Rep. Wyman Duggan, a Jacksonville Republican in his first term in the House, started reelection fundraising in earnest in August.
After an expensive and brutal race in House District 15 in 2018, the incumbent is taking no chances with 2020.
He has brought in over $26,000 for his bid in a month where most of his regional colleagues were not fundraising. Over $21,000 of the money raised came from 25 contributions and went to Duggan’s campaign account.
Among those entities that contributed the maximum $1,000: Nextera Energy PAC, the political arm of the parent company of Florida Power and Light.
— Worth noting: FPL has expressed interest in buying local Jacksonville utility JEA; meanwhile, Nextera plans to sell $1.5 billion of equity units for project investments … a category that could include utility acquisition.
— Also donating $1,000: lobbyists, including the Fiorentino Group, the Mayernick Group, and Ron Book; and PACs, including Florida Foundation for Liberty, the committee of future Speaker and fellow First Coast lawyer, state Rep. Paul Renner.
Duggan’s $32,000-plus in hard money is augmented by another $12,000-plus in his political committee, Citizens for Building Florida’s Future.
Two citizens were interested in that project in August. One of them was Florida Power and Light, which contributed $2,500 of the $5,000 raised last month.
Duggan’s district is almost perfectly purple. Of the 103,293 voters in HD 15, there are 39,997 Republicans and 40,323 Democrats.
However, it was green that decided 2018. Over $1 million was spent by candidates in the race.
While it’s unlikely that Duggan will face a Democrat in 2020 with pockets as deep as 2018’s Tracye Polson, here’s what’s clear:
He will be ready should there be one.
