Ryan Nicol
Republican Rep. Chip LaMarca is coming off one of his best fundraising periods this cycle, as he added more than $120,000 in the House District 93 campaign.
That haul was thanks in part to a massive $40,000 contribution from the Florida Federation for Children PAC. The donation went into LaMarca’s political committee, Citizens Helping Improve Policy.
The Florida Federation for Children aims to support lawmakers who support school choice options.
LaMarca’s PC collected more than $76,000 from Sept. 5-18. His campaign added nearly $44,000 more.
That was easily enough to top his Democratic opponent, former U.S. State Department Assistant Inspector General Linda Thompson Gonzalez. Thompson Gonzalez raised nearly $25,000 during the same period, less than a quarter of LaMarca’s haul.
That mark was also among her best fundraising cycles as she tries to put a dent in LaMarca’s massive cash on hand advantage during the General Election cycle.
While Thompson Gonzalez has upped her own pace, LaMarca has managed to grow his lead since the General Election began.
LaMarca retains more than $313,000 between his campaign and PC. That’s a lead of around $228,000 over Thompson Gonzalez. She holds just over $85,000 between her campaign and her PC, Committee for a Better Broward. That total includes $70,000 of her own cash that Thompson Gonzalez has yet to tap into.
LaMarca tapped into his war chest in a big way in the most recent reporting period, spending nearly $90,000 on campaign costs in the two-week span. LaMarca spent nearly $63,000 on media costs with Smart Media Group. LaMarca’s PC also sent more than $10,000 to campaign strategist Blake MacDiarmid for research and consulting services.
Thompson Gonzalez had by far her biggest spending spree yet, dropping nearly $49,000 on campaign costs from Sept. 5-18. The majority of that cash — nearly $38,000 — went to the National Campaign Resource Group for printing services.
The district covers parts of Broward County including Lighthouse Point and Lauderdale-by-the-Sea. LaMarca won the seat in 2018 by 7 points.
Candidates and political committees faced a Friday deadline to report all financial activity through Sept. 18.
