Ryan Nicol
Democratic Sen. José Javier Rodríguez‘s campaign added more than $38,000 as he looks to defend his Senate District 37 seat against Republican candidate Ileana Garcia.
Rodríguez pulled in more than $33,000 through his campaign account in the most recent fundraising period, covering Aug. 22-Sept. 4. Initiative for Florida’s Future, a political committee associated with his campaign, added another $5,000 from Aug. 22-28. The committee’s report covering Aug. 29-Sept. 4 was not available as of this posting.
Either way, that $38,000 total is enough to top his Republican challenger. Garcia raised just over $26,000 in the latest report. That’s her best fundraising period since she entered the race in early June, but still short of the haul from her Democratic incumbent.
Garcia’s political committee, No More Socialism, showed $0 in new contributions during the most recent fundraising period.
Non-party affiliated Alex Rodriguez raised no new money, according to the freshly-filed reports, and holds less than $800 total.
Sen. Rodríguez burned through nearly $183,000 during the most recent two-week period alone. More than $166,000 went toward advertising costs with Edge Communications. That firm, piloted by consultant Christian Ulvert, courted another $16,000 for production costs.
Garcia was much more muted in her spending, dropping nearly $15,000 in total. More than $8,000 went toward campaign signs with Gulf Coast Imprinting. Another $5,700 went to Footprint Ideals for phone banking and consulting.
Even with the upcoming ad blitz from Sen. Rodríguez, he still holds a hefty cash advantage in the contest, with nearly $523,000 between his two accounts as of this posting. Garcia holds close to $110,000.
Garcia founded Latinas For Trump and went on to work in the Donald Trump administration, serving as a deputy press secretary at the Department of Homeland Security.
Rodríguez won the SD 37 seat in 2016 by just over 3 percentage points to succeed GOP Sen. Miguel Diaz De la Portilla. The district spans portions of Miami-Dade County including Coral Gables, Key Biscayne, Palmetto Bay and Pinecrest.
Candidates and political committees faced a Friday deadline to report all financial activity through Sept. 4.
