Janelle Irwin Taylor
Former Tampa City Council member Harry Cohen is continuing his fundraising momentum two months after entering the race for Hillsborough County Commission District 1.
Cohen raised $40,000 in November, according to the most recent finance reports filed with the Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections office.
That almost exactly matches his first month earnings in October and brings his total raised so far to more than $80,000.
Cohen is running for the seat currently held by long-time Commissioner Sandra Murman who is not seeking reelection.
Cohen, a Democrat, faces Jen McDonald in the 2020 primary. McDonald has been running for the seat since last April. She’s raised just $22,860 so far including less than $3,000 in November.
Cohen is raking in contributions from deep-pocketed developers in the area. He took in maximum $1,000 contributions from developers like Wingspan Development Group, Laura and Joseph Williams of Kimmins Contracting Corp., Framework Group partner Phillip Smith, Msr Management Corporation President Mark Rosenthal, BCI Development Group and Blue Sky Communities, among other.
Other notable top-dollar contributions came from consultant Beth Leytham and James Ferman of the Ferman Automotive Group.
Cohen took in a total of 107 individual contributions averaging about $372 each.
He spent about $9,700 in November including $2,800 for his campaign kickoff party at Pane Rustica and $3,000 on campaign consulting services from Jon Stewart Consulting in St. Petersburg.
Cohen is most recently known for his bid for Tampa Mayor in which he finished third in a crowded race behind the late David Straz Jr. and now-Mayor Jane Castor. Local political insiders recognized Cohen for a hard fought campaign and suspected that had it not been for Straz’s heavy spending in the race, the election would have been a showdown between Cohen and Castor. However, after the election Castor tapped Cohen to help lead her transition efforts and will likely benefit from the administration’s support as he seeks a seat on the County Commission.
One Republican has entered the race so far. Scott Levinson entered the race in early November, but hasn’t posted any fundraising activity yet. He has a campaign kickoff party scheduled for Jan. 14 at Carmine’s in Ybor City.
