A.G. Gancarski
Many Northeast Florida state Reps. spent at least a little time before Legislative Session fundraising.
The most prodigious fundraiser, Republican Jason Fischer in HD 16, raised and spent big in March. Between his political committee and hard money, he has nearly $300,000 on hand.
While his local counterparts weren’t necessarily that aggressive, most of them found a moment or two ahead of Session’s beginning to raise at least a bit of money.
HD 11 Republican Cord Byrd, who defeated both a primary opponent and a general election challenge in 2018, raised $2,000, including a donation from First Coast Conservatives, the well-capitalized political committee of termed-out budget chair Travis Cummings of Orange Park. Byrd has roughly $6,000 on hand.
HD 12 Republican Clay Yarborough raised $12,000 off 14 contributions, pushing his account over $40,000 raised and $36,000 on hand. Donors included NextEra Energy, Comcast, and NBCUniversal.
HD 13 Democrat Tracie Davis had yet to file numbers as of this writing. HD 14 Democrat Kim Daniels has yet to open a campaign account for re-election.
Wyman Duggan, a first-term Republican in HD 15, raised $8,000 of his nearly $12,000 nestegg in March. Cummings’ committee donated, as did Walt Disney affilliates Magic Kingdom Inc. and the Celebration Company.
Moving to St. Johns County, Republican Cyndi Stevenson raised over $13,000, giving her over $38,000 on hand. Stevenson, in a safe HD 17 seat, got money from CPA and lodging industry groups, as well as the AIF PAC.
In Clay County, HD 18 Republican candidate Sam Garrison is heavily-endorsed and well-capitalized, with nearly $100,000 banked to stymie any potential primary challenger.
And in HD 19, second-term Republican incumbent Bobby Payne raised $9,000, giving him nearly $41,000 on hand and raised.
Incumbents will be able to start raising money again in May.
