Ryan Nicol
Democratic Rep. Javier Fernández added $131,000 during the most recent fundraising period, putting him miles ahead of his Senate District 39 opponents.
Fernández brought in more than $21,000 through his campaign from June 27-July 10. Florida Future, a committee affiliated with Fernández, added nearly $110,000 more in donations as he seeks the Democratic nomination in SD 39.
Florida Future did, however, turn around and send a $142,500 contribution to the Florida Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, putting a huge dent into Florida Future’s cash on hand.
The SD 39 race is one of the highest-profile Senate races in the state, as GOP Sen. Anitere Flores is term-limited. Democrats believe they can steal a seat from Republicans this November.
Much of the recent money poured into Florida Future came via a group of separate PC’s. The Democratic Action Network donated more than $30,000 to the Fernández PC. Urban Action Fund pitched in another $15,000.
Both organizations are connected to John Fox, a big-time fundraiser based in Tampa.
A third PC, the Democratic Services Network, pitched in $10,000 to Florida Future as well to boost the Fernández campaign. That committee is chaired by Fort Lauderdale attorney Jason B. Blank.
The monster month by Fernández brings him almost even with GOP Rep. Ana Maria Rodriguez, who is also competing for the seat.
Between her campaign and political committee, Ethics and Honesty in Government, Rodriguez has raised around $895,000 overall. Fernández has now collected nearly $892,000.
That’s after Rodriguez repeatedly outraised Fernández during 2019. That led to some grumbling among some Senate Democrats, who had endorsed the Fernández bid but worried he would struggle to field a competitive campaign.
At the turn of the year, Fernández flipped that around. He has been the better fundraiser in 2020 thus far.
Fernández still has a ways to go to match the Rodriguez war chest. The Republican has more than $488,000 on hand, while Fernández is sitting on $321,000.
Rodriguez is also unopposed on the Republican side, giving her a clear path to the general election and an ability to save her firepower.
Fernández, meanwhile, is up against Democratic candidate Daniel Horton-Diaz, a former District Chief of Staff for U.S. Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell. He’ll have to get through Horton-Diaz to secure the Democratic nomination and move to the general.
Horton-Diaz hasn’t put up much of a fight on the fundraising front. He’s added less than $17,000 through June 26. His most recent reports, covering activity through July 10, aren’t available as of this posting. It’s safe to say though that he won’t come close to the $131,000 amassed by Fernández in the equivalent period.
And while Horton-Diaz is an alumni of Mucarsel-Powell’s team, she endorsed Fernández in June.
Celso Alfonso also qualified in the contest as a non-party affiliated candidate. Alfonso has added $2,000 in self-loans, but has not reported any outside contributions through July 10.
SD 39 covers all of Monroe County and part of southern Miami-Dade County. The Democratic primary will be held on Aug. 18.
