Janelle Irwin Taylor
St. Petersburg City Council member Ed Montanari has raised more than four times his opponent in his reelection bid.
Montanari raised $8,450 Sept. 14-27, bringing his total earnings to more than $88,610.
Montanari’s challenger, Orlando Acosta, raised $2,075 during the same period and has brought in a total of about $21,000.
Montanari has spent about $66,000 in his race so far, leaving him with about $22,000 left to spent — more than Acosta has raised in total.
Acosta has a little more than $7,000 left to spent.
The numbers highlight Montanari’s might as an incumbent and underscore the partisan fight he’s facing as a Republican running against a Democrat in a liberal city.
Acosta’s latest fundraising report shows $500 contributions from former City Council member Karl Nurse and former Pinellas Democratic Party Chair Susan McGrath.
His latest report does not reflect spending on a series of partisan mailers sent to voters over the past week comparing Montanari to President Donald Trump. The mailers cite past City Council votes to accuse Montanari of siding with the NRA, blocking climate resiliency and supporting big developers.
Montanari, meanwhile, is steering clear of the partisan argument, but is quietly debunking the argument by amassing a healthy list of endorsements from both Democrats and Republicans including all but one of his colleagues on council, all of whom are Democrats.
Montanari’s fundraising report showed three $1,000 contributions. Two of those came from residents in his district, which includes parts of northeast St. Pete, and a third from TECO.
Montanari spent aggressively during the latest reporting period, dropping more than $5,000 to Election Management Solutions based in Tallahassee for printing and direct mail, $2,400 on campaign staffing and payroll and $3,600 to Supernova Digital Communications.
Ballots have already gone out in the mail to voters who asked for them. Ballots can still be requested via the Pinellas County Supervisor of Elections website. District races are open citywide for the general election.
Election day is Nov. 5.
One comment
J G
October 7, 2019 at 12:07 pm
“Montanari has spent about $66,000 in his race so far, leaving him with about $22,000 left to **spent** — more than Acosta has raised in total.
Acosta has a little more than $7,000 left to **spent**.”
I think spent should be spend where indicated in these sentences.
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