Florida GOP pitches in nearly $22K for Tom Fabricio in otherwise slow HD 103 fundraising period

The Republican Party of Florida put nearly $22,000 toward staff and polling costs for Republican candidate Tom Fabricio as he challenges incumbent Democratic Rep. Cindy Polo.

Those in-kind contributions make up the bulk of the action in what was otherwise a slow fundraising period for both candidates. The newest financial reports cover Aug. 22-Sept. 4 and mark the first full fundraising period of the General Election.

In terms of actual cash, Fabricio raised just over $5,700 for the period while Polo collected less than $2,800.

Fabricio courted a $1,000 donation from Friends of Ray Rodrigues, the political committee associated with GOP Rep. Ray Rodrigues. Jack Latvala‘s PC, Florida Leadership Committee, also contributed $1,000 to Fabricio’s campaign. The Broward County Republican Executive Committee donated $250 as well.

Polo mostly relied on small-dollar donations. She courted only two donations of more than $100 during the period. One of those came from Democratic Rep. Anna Eskamani, who pitched in $250 to Polo’s campaign account.

Neither Fabricio nor Polo spent any significant money during the period.

Fabricio’s slight fundraising advantage during the period didn’t put much of a dent in the overall money gap. Polo has raised just under $86,000 this cycle and has more than $54,000 still on hand.

Fabricio has raised $67,000 and added another $10,000 in loans. He has just over $7,400 remaining, however.

Those in-kind contributions from the Florida GOP will help ameliorate his money deficit. Still, Fabricio’s campaign lacks a lot of hard cash as he looks to take the House District 103 seat back for Republicans.

In 2018, Polo won the open HD 103 seat by 6 percentage points. That seat was formerly held by Republican Rep. Manny Diaz, who now serves in the Senate.

The district covers parts of Miami Lakes and Doral in Miami-Dade County and also extends into Miramar in Broward County. Candidates and political committees faced a Friday deadline to report all financial activity through Sept. 4.