Debbie Mucarsel-Powell enters 2020 with $1.6 mil cash on hand for re-election campaign

Debbie Mucarsel-Powell is raking in the cash.

U.S. Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell‘s campaign says it added more than $575,000 during the final quarter of 2019, bringing its total fundraising for the year across the $2.1 million mark.

Mucarsel-Powell, a Democrat, is running for reelection in Florida’s 26th Congressional District against a pair of Republican challengers. The impressive fourth quarter fundraising mark leaves Mucarsel-Powell with more than $1.6 million cash on hand, according to her team.

“I am so proud of the large number of people supporting our re-election campaign,” Mucarsel-Powell said in a Tuesday statement announcing her fundraising tally.

“This outpouring of support proves that our vision for a better South Florida is working. In 2019, I passed legislation to lower prescription drug prices, protect the Everglades and our coral reefs, and provide crucial humanitarian relief for Venezuelans fleeing oppression. There is still so much work to do and I am honored that South Florida trusts me to keep fighting for them.”

The most recent numbers from Mucarsel-Powell build on a third quarter haul of just over $500,000. That was more than enough to top her Republican rivals, restaurateur Irina Vilariño and Omar Blanco, the former head of Miami-Dade Firefighters Local 1403.

Congressional candidates have until Jan. 31 to report their fundraising totals through the end of 2019.

The fourth quarter numbers for Vilariño and Blanco are not yet available. But the duo significantly trailed Mucarsel-Powell’s third quarter totals. Vilariño and Blanco each added just over $100,000, trailing the incumbent Democrat by a nearly 5-to-1 margin.

Mucarsel-Powell’s fourth quarter reports have not yet been posted on the Federal Election Commission website. But her campaign counted nearly 3,000 unique donors who made just over 3,600 contributions.

Out of those contributions, 90 percent were for $100 or less, according to the campaign.

Mucarsel-Powell defeated incumbent GOP U.S. Rep. Carlos Curbelo in 2018 by less than 2 percentage points. That’s left Republicans with a goal of turning the seat red again in 2020. It remains to be seen whether either of the GOP candidates can keep up with Mucarsel-Powell’s fundraising pace as the campaign enters a new gear in 2020.