Alex Penelas celebrates $340K in February fundraising, crosses $3.5M collected overall

Alex Penelas says he added another $342,000 in February for his campaign to be the next Mayor of Miami-Dade County. That puts him at more than $3.5 million collected overall.

Penelas is raising money through his campaign and his political committee, Bold Vision. Penelas waited until October to launch his campaign, though he started raising money through his PC several months prior.

Through January, Penelas was leading the race in overall fundraising. His rivals have not yet reported their February numbers. Those reports are due by Tuesday, March 10.

Penelas previously served as Miami-Dade County Mayor from 1996 to 2004. The Penelas team says they are sitting on about $3.1 million in cash on hand going forward.

“Our message is clearly resonating, and our campaign will remain focused on offering Miami-Dade County residents a path forward that brings our diverse community together to work towards a brighter future for everyone,” Penelas said.

“Over the past several months I’ve been talking to residents about the need for a bold vision and massive action to address the critical challenges facing our community. We can’t wait any longer to fix our transportation mess, tackle the affordable housing crisis, reduce gun violence, protect our natural resources, repair our crumbling infrastructure and address mental health in our communities, which is a root cause of so many other problems.”

Penelas also received a new round of local endorsements in February.

He posted a similar fundraising number in January. But that was still not enough to lead the field in fundraising for that month. Miami-Dade County Commissioner Xavier Suarez added about $360,000 for his strongest fundraising month yet.

Fellow Commissioner Daniella Levine Cava has also been a formidable fundraiser, collecting about $2.2 million through January.

Also competing in the 2020 contest are entrepreneur Monique Nicole Barley, current County Commissioners Esteban Bovo and Jean Monestime, former Miami mayoral candidate Robert Burke and real estate agent Ludmilla Domond.