Amanda Makki nears $750K raised in bid to unseat Charlie Crist

Amanda Makki

Republican lawyer and former congressional health care policy adviser Amanda Makki has now raised $747,000 in her campaign to flip Florida’s 13th Congressional District.

A finance report filed with the Federal Elections Commission this week shows $209,000 flowed to her campaign in the first quarter, topping her $120,000 effort to close out 2019 and coming within arm’s reach of her $220,000 report for the second quarter of last year.

The Q1 report shows $66,000 in spending, leaving Makki, a former Senior Health Advisor to U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, with about $613,000 in the bank on April 1. At the end of Q4 2019, she had about $470,000 on hand.

The contribution breakdown lists 52 contributions for $2,800, the maximum allowable contribution for U.S. House candidates. Some donors clamored to give more — Makki’s campaign issued dozens of refunds to supporters who cracked the limit.

Many of the donations came from CD 13 residents, including 32 from St. Petersburg, where Makki lives, nine more from the Clearwater area, and a trio from Seminole. Another 30 came from Tampa, which neighbors the Pinellas-based district.

House members chipped in, too. West Virginia U.S. Rep. Carol Miller, North Dakota U.S. Rep. Kelly Armstrong and Texas U.S. Rep. Randy Weber were listed on the report.

Makki, an attorney and former George W. Bush appointee to the Pentagon’s General Councils office on anti-terrorism issues, is one of eight candidates vying for CD 13, with all but Crist seeking the Republican nomination. George Buck and Anna Paulina Luna were the only other GOP hopefuls to break the six-figure mark by the end of 2019.

As of Tuesday evening, neither candidate’s first-quarter reports were available on FEC’s website. Buck had raised $400,000 and had $68,000 on hand at year’s end. Luna had raised $147,000 and had $48,000 in the bank through the same date.

Whoever emerges from the August primary will face an uphill fight in the general. CD 13 has a Democratic lean — in 2018, the Crist won reelection over Buck by 15 points. The prior cycle saw the former Governor oust former U.S. Rep. David Jolly 52% to 48%.

The incumbent also has a substantial money advantage. Through the end of 2019, Crist had raised $1.5 million for his reelection campaign. Combined with unexpended funds from his past campaigns, he had $2.8 million on hand.