Janelle Irwin Taylor
If money were the only indicator, Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister would be a shoo-in for reelection this year.
Chronister has now raised nearly $250,000 in his reelection campaign. He raised another nearly $1 million in an affiliated political committee, Friends of Chad Chronister.
Between the two accounts he has more than $1 million on hand to take out a primary challenger as well as a no-party-affiliated candidate and a Democrat.
Chronister raised $29,320 June 13-26 in his campaign, bringing in 67 contributions averaging $437 each.
No one else in the race even comes close.
Chronister’s challenger in the GOP primary, former Hillsborough County Sheriff’s detective Charles Boswell, has raised $28,300 including $4,100 in the latest two-week reporting period.
He has just $11,000 on hand.
Former Tampa Police Officer Ron McMullen, a Democrat who’s running as an NPA in November, raised just $950 in the latest period and $26,540 overall. He has just over $12,000 on hand.
Gary Pruitt, also a former Tampa Police Officer, is the only candidate on the ticket running as a Democrat. He didn’t raise a dime in the latest reporting period and has raised just $13,672 to date with less than $10 left in the bank.
Chronister spent more in two weeks than any of the other candidate has raised in their entire campaigns.
Chronister dropped nearly $25,000 in Facebook ads and from Strategic Image Management, a Republican firm affiliated with consultant Anthony Pedicini.
He also spent $2,000 on accounting services from Robert Watkins and Company and $1,400 on signs from Builders First Source in Tampa.
The only other candidate with a major consulting firm on the payroll is McMullen who spent $4,700 in the latest report on consulting services from Parsons Wilson.
