Jason Brodeur adds another $95,000 to his SD 9 election funds

Republican Senate candidate Jason Brodeur picked up nearly $95,000 in July to fuel his robust campaign funds in his bid to be elected in District 9.

Brodeur, a former state representative in Seminole County, reported that his official campaign fund raised another $45,230 in July while his political committee Friends of Jason Brodeur brought in $49,500.

That means his campaign now has raised $453,502 while the independent committee has raised $1.7 million.

The two funds have spent quite a bit over the past three years of his candidacy, so he entered August with $221,005 in the campaign coffer and $359,053 in the independent committee, for a total of about $580,000.

One of his Democratic challengers, Justin Miller of Oviedo, dropped out in July. That leaves Democrat Rick Ashby, an Oviedo-based engineer, who reported raising just $35 in the month. Ashby’s campaign has about $326 in the bank.

The seat is opening because incumbent Republican state Sen. David Simmons is term-limited. SD 9 represents Seminole County and southwestern Volusia County.

Brodeur’s monthly collection makes the sixth time in seven months this year that he’s managed to bring in a combined total of at least $50,000.

Brodeur, of Sanford, is president of the Seminole County Regional Chamber of Commerce.

Friends of Jason Brodeur picked up $10,000 checks from the FCCI Services Inc. insurance group of Sarasota, Darden Restaurants’ GMRI Inc. of Orlando, and Associated Industries of Florida’s AIF PAC.

It also deposited $5,000 checks from the Florida Transportation Builders Association’s FTBA PAC and Republican state Sen. Manny Diaz‘s Better Florida Education Political Committee.

His official campaign picked up 40 maximum-contribution $1,000 checks, mostly but not entirely from businesses and business groups, including several alcoholic beverage companies and groups, the Poarch Band of Creek Indians in Alabama, and Florida East Coast Industries, which is associated with the development of the Virgin Trains railroad being built between South Florida and Orlando.