Jacob Ogles
In the final build-up to Election Day, Rep. Elizabeth Fetterhoff posted her most successful fundraising period of this cycle.
As of Oct. 16, the DeLand Republican’s campaign account held $29,757 in cash on hand. Still, Democratic challenger Patrick Henry, who she unseated in House District 26 in 2018, holds the money advantage with $49,855 in the bank.
That’s largely because Fetterhoff started blasting the district with media buys. The incumbent spent $172,564 on the race between Oct. 3 and 16, including $155,200 with Mentzer Media on advertising and other media efforts.
In eight days, Florida will learn if that helps her hold on to a seat she won by a mere 61 votes. A Florida Politics-commissioned poll conducted on Oct. 5 found her trailing 2 percentage points, but that came before her recent marketing blitz.
There’s cavalry coming to help Fetterhoff in the final stretch. She raised $40,750 in the last reporting period, while Henry collected $12,460 over the same time.
Most of her money came through a variety of trade associations and political committees. Of note, six different regional arms of the Florida RV Trade Association made $1,000 donations, with a seventh donating $500, making up nearly 16% of her new contributions.
But she also saw maximum donations from the insurance insurance industry including from FCCI and Zenith. The Florida FARM PAC and the Apartment Political Action Committee were among the political action committees also coming in with a last minute assist.
As for Henry, he saw a rush of small donors. But he’s spending money rapidly in his attempt to win back his old seat. He spent $46,738 the last period, including more than $26,000 in campaign marketing costs with Midlantic Marketing Solutions and another $5,000 with 623 Management.
The bottom line is Fetterhoff has been raising money more than three times as quickly as Henry and spending more than three-and-a-half times as much of it. But unless she gets another cash infusion, Henry’s got more money in the bank for the campaign’s final days.
