Drew Wilson
Rep. Bob Rommel could face a familiar foe come Election Day 2020.
The Naples Republican won his second term in 2018 cycle and is gunning for a third in Collier County-based House District 106.
Challenging him for the coastal Collier seat is Democrat Sara McFadden, also of Naples.
McFadden, a small businesswoman, vied for the seat in 2018, earning about a third of the vote in a heads-up race against Rommel.
Though she wasn’t a major threat, her candidacy was a change of pace for Rommel, who waltzed into office in 2016 after trampling write-in candidate Connor Maguire.
According to her website, McFadden became politically active in the 2016 election cycle and was elected as a state committeewoman and appointed as a vice chair for the state party in short order.
Since filing her paperwork to run in 2020, she has updated her campaign site to reflect her second go for the House seat.
“Although my bid was not successful, I have not forgotten the reasons I decided to run for office. We’ve got our eyes on our elected officials to encourage them to live up to their campaign promises and to hold them accountable if they don’t — let’s see what happens,” the website reads.
As of May 31, Rommel had raised $63,500 for his re-election campaign account. He has also raised another $15,500 for his newly formed political committee, Florida Conservative Committee.
Between the two accounts, he has about $72,000 banked.
McFadden’s first campaign finance report is due next month.
She could keep competitive in the money race if opts to kick in loans like she did last cycle, when she raised about $63,000 and put another $100,000 of her own money on the line.
By comparison, Rommel raised about $200,000 in the run up to Election Day 2018.
