Spencer Fordin
Oliver Gilbert III has held off a fundraising challenge from Sybrina Fulton in their race for the Miami-Dade County Commission, and he’ll go into the final funding period with leads in total raised and cash on hand.
Gilbert, the Mayor of Miami Gardens, has raised $531,220 and spent $373,233 during his campaign, leaving $157,987 remaining. Gilbert has received $730 per donor from a total of 728 contributors.
Fulton, meanwhile, has raised $489,923 and spent $457,614 during her first bid for electoral office. Fulton, the mother of Trayvon Martin, has $32,309 remaining heading into the final week of the campaign.
The pair of candidates are running for the District 1 seat on the County Commission occupied by Barbara Jordan. Jordan endorsed Gilbert for her seat late last month.
Fulton has had a lot of the momentum in fundraising over the last few months, but Gilbert raised $22,525 from 38 contributors from July 25 to July 31. Fulton raised $18,715 in the latest fundraising period.
Gilbert led the funding race by more than $300,000 at one point last September.
Fulton made a huge dent in that difference by raising $159,388 from 4,989 donors between June 1 and June 12, and she also raised $46,199 in the period between June 13 and June 26.
Gilbert served on the Miami Gardens City Council prior to running for Mayor for the first time.
Fulton has earned the endorsement of U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Corey Booker.
St. Thomas University hired Gilbert to run its newly-launched Center for Pandemic, Disaster, and Quarantine (PDQ) Research in late July.
