SD 3: Democrat Loranne Ausley holds war-chest advantage over Republican Marva Preston

In the race for Senate District 3, Democratic candidate Loranne Ausley maintains a dominant war-chest advantage over her lead Republican adversary, Marva Preston.

Ausley, a state Representative who has opted to run for Senate, has been campaigning for the seat for nearly two years and has built a sizable campaign fund to stave off a potential upset.

According to campaign finance records, Ausley’s campaign reigns with roughly $311,458 cash-on-hand. Meanwhile, Preston’s latest campaign finance records show the Republican hopeful holds roughly $27,830 in the bank.

Ausley’s campaign has enjoyed a relatively steady infusion of support in recent weeks from a variety of donors largely from the Tallahassee area.

Since June, she received over $30,000 worth of support from the Florida Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee to provide a variety of services including campaign staff and consulting.

Ausley also has roughly $38,728 in her political committee, Florida 2020. That committee received a big boost in early July by earning $20,000 in donations from an education advocacy group and a South Florida law firm.

Preston, however, recorded the best week of donations in mid-June with an influx of over $20,000. Much of which came from political committees including Fight for Florida and Free Markets for Florida.

She has also enjoyed more than $61,000 in support from the Florida Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee for a variety of services including polling and research.

In July, Preston took her campaign onto the airwaves with a new TV ad sponsored by the Florida Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee.

The 30-second TV advertisement boasts the former homicide detective’s June endorsement from Gov. Ron DeSantis and highlights her platform of conservative values.

In the primary, Preston is competing with Republican candidate Benjamin Alexander Thaddeus John Horbowy. 

Horbowy holds an approximate total of $65o in the bank with his best week in June pulling in $1,329 toward his campaign.

He is endorsed by Vets for Trump.

SD 3 is a Democratic-leaning seat that covers all of Calhoun, Franklin, Gadsden, Gulf, Hamilton, Jefferson, Leon, Liberty, Madison, Taylor and Wakulla counties in North Florida.

The election winner will replace term-limited Sen. Bill Montford.