Ryan Nicol
GOP Rep. Anthony Rodriguez topped $100,000 in the latest two-week fundraising period as he seeks to defend his House District 118 seat against Democratic candidate Ricky Junquera.
Rodriguez got a big assist from the Republican Party of Florida, which donated $25,000 to his campaign. Even without that cash influx, a haul of nearly $76,000 would still mark the best fundraising period this cycle for Rodriguez.
Junquera also notched his best fundraising period, adding more than $57,000. That’s an impressive number for the Democratic challenger, but still falls short of the incumbent’s total.
Both candidates spent massively during the period, which spanned activity from Sept. 19-Oct. 2. Rodriguez spent nearly $153,000, while Junquera topped $119,000.
For Rodriguez, nearly $135,000 went to the Miami-based firm Dark Horse Strategies. That money mostly covered media buys, but also went toward consulting, surveys and campaign hangers.
Junquera also largely focused on advertising, spending $11,000 with the Coral Gables-outlet AIDEM.
Rodriguez won the HD 118 seat in 2018, ousting Democratic Rep. Robert Asencio by 2 points. The district covers parts of Miami-Dade County including Tamiami and Kendall.
Breaking down the fundraising numbers, Rodriguez brought in more than $81,000 through his campaign if you include the $25,000 Florida GOP donation. His political committee, A Bolder Florida, raised $19,500 as well.
Two Republican House members recently sent money to the Rodriguez campaign to help hold the HD 118 seat. The newest reports show Conservatives for Principled Leadership, Republican Rep. Paul Renner‘s PC, donated $1,000 to Rodriguez. Conservatives for a Better Florida, a PC belonging to Republican Rep. Daniel Perez, also contributed $1,000.
Excluding the $25,000 donation to the Rodriguez campaign account, he brought in 64 individual donations for an average of $879. Most of those donations were maxed-out $1,000 donations from various interest groups, along with a handful of $250 or $500 donations which weighted the average down.
Aside from his colleagues, Rodriguez courted several thousand dollars in donations from various law firms, insurance companies and beer distributors. Bank of America’s PAC also donated $4,000 to his PC.
Donations to Junquera were for far smaller sums, but were almost entirely driven by out-of-state donations. He averaged just over $21 per donation.
Of the 2,700 contributions to Junquera, just 2.5% were from Florida donors. Looking at cash raised, just over $3,700 — or 6.5% — of Junquera’s more than $57,000 haul came from inside the state.
Rodriguez still has a clear cash advantage going forward. He holds nearly $244,000 between his two accounts. Junquera is sitting on just over $52,000.
Candidates and political committees faced a Friday deadline to report all financial activity through Oct. 2.
