Scott Powers
Democratic Rep. Joy Goff-Marcil and Republican former Rep. Bob Cortes head into the General Election with Cortes holding a strong campaign cash advantage in the contest for House District 30.
Neither Cortes, who held the seat for two terms, nor Goff-Marcil, who ousted him in 2018, faced Aug. 18 primary challenges. As they turn the corner to the Nov. 3 General Election, Cortes has $68,450 in the bank while Goff-Marcil had a balance of $39,561, according to the latest reports on file with the Florida Division of Elections through Aug. 21.
Cortes has raised money at an even greater pace than Goff-Marcil. In less than four months since entering the contest in late April, Cortes has raised $104,385, not including another $9,783 in in-kind services provided his campaign by the Republican Party of Florida.
He has spent nearly $36,000 of that, including on early mail advertising.
Goff-Marcil has managed to raise $45,433 in just over a year since filing for reelection. But she has spent very little, only putting up a few yard signs so far.
She also has received nearly $30,000 in in-kind support from the Florida Democratic Party.
Still, Goff-Marcil has faced this sort of challenge before. This election is a rematch of 2018, when Cortes’ campaign outspent hers by a 6-1 ratio and still lost 53% to 47%.
HD 30 covers portions of southern Seminole County and northern Orange County, including parts of Altamonte Springs, Casselberry, Maitland, Eatonville, and Winter Park. The entirely suburban district has flipped several times over the past couple of decades, but has been trending more Democratic. In the latest book-closing report for the primaries, Democrats held a nearly 8-point lead in voter registration.
Cortes’ big contributions thus far have included $10,000 from the Republican Party of Florida and 76 $1,000 checks. Among those maximum donors were many current and former Republican state legislators and their political action committees, BusinessForce, Associated Builders and Contractors, Duke Energy, Comcast, TECO Energy, and Florida Beer Wholesalers, which also donated to Goff-Marcil.
Over time, Goff-Marcil has received 26 $1,000 checks, including from the Ruth’s List and Emily’s List PACs supporting Democratic women candidates, the Florida Education Association teachers union, the Democratic PAC, Forward Florida, Disney Vacation Development, the Florida Democratic Party, Laborers Local 517, and the Fund for Children and Public Education PAC.
