Laura Loomer takes top fundraising spot for fourth straight quarter, but still trails Lois Frankel in cash on hand

Republican candidate Laura Loomer is leading her competitors in Florida’s 21st Congressional District in fundraising for the fourth straight quarter.

Loomer still has a ways to go, however, to catch incumbent Democratic U.S. Rep. Lois Frankel in cash on hand.

Loomer added around $384,000 during the most recent quarter, which spanned all financial activity from April 1 to June 30.

The challenger has consistently spent tens of thousands paying for services that allow Loomer to raise money online. She paid more than $57,000 last quarter to a company called Media Bridge for “email fundraising fees.” Another $11,000 went to a different company, D-Ploy It, Inc., for similar services.

Loomer’s financial reports are littered with such payments, which mostly offset the money she is bringing in. Though she’s raised more than $945,000 this cycle, Loomer has around $240,000 in cash on hand going forward.

That’s more than Loomer’s five opponents in the Republican primary, but Frankel’s war chest dwarfs them all. The incumbent Democrat has more than $1.2 million available as of June 30.

Frankel raised around $133,000 last quarter. She dumped a decent chunk of change into fundraising services as well, paying $31,000 to 4C Partners, LLC, along with other disbursements. She also transferred $100,000 to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

Frankel and Loomer are the overall fundraising leaders in their respective primaries. Loomer does trail fellow Republican Reba Sherrill in cash on hand, however. Sherrill is holding just over $300,000.

That number has been boosted by a $350,000 loan from Sherrill to her campaign. She raised just over $100 in outside contributions last quarter.

Aaron Scanlan was second to Loomer on the Republican side for overall cash raised during the second quarter, adding just over $28,000. He has less than $2,000 on hand, however.

Christian Acosta, Elizabeth Felton and Michael Vilardi are also battling for the GOP nod. Non-party affiliated candidate Charleston Malkemus and write-in candidate Sylvia Caravetta have also qualified.

Frankel is being challenged by Guido Weiss in the Democratic primary. So far, Weiss has failed to court much money. He added less than $12,000 last quarter for a total of $18,000 raised. Weiss has just $4,300 still on hand.

CD 21 leans heavily Democratic. Frankel won reelection in 2016 by more than 25 percentage points and ran unopposed in 2018.

Federal campaigns faced a Wednesday deadline to report all financial activity through June 30.