Kelly Hayes
St. Petersburg City Council member Gina Driscoll collected $10,173 for the month of March, according to the latest fundraising reports.
Driscoll’s March haul includes $9,173 raised by her campaign account, along with $1,000 collected by her associated political committee, Friends of Gina Driscoll.
Her campaign account reported 50 donors last month, primarily individual contributors and a handful of businesses and PACs. Driscoll received $1,000 drops from FLAME PAC, Local Union No. 915 and Trevor Burgess, President and CEO of Neptune Flood Insurance.
Former St. Pete City Council member and Driscoll’s predecessor Karl Nurse, and current District 2 Council member Brandi Gabbard, who is also seeking reelection, each donated $100. Driscoll’s campaign also garnered a $500 donation from Ruth’s List Florida. The PAC endorsed Driscoll as well as District 8 candidate Lisset Hanewicz to support maintaining the current female supermajority on the council.
Driscoll’s campaign spent $1,793 in the month of March between consulting services and credit card processing fees.
The candidate’s associated PAC raised $1,000 from a single donor, lawyer Ted Starr. The PAC’s expenditures included consulting services, as well as a $100 donation to Gabbard’s campaign.
Driscoll entered April with $91,557 cash on hand, having raised $114,228 so far between her campaign and political committee, and spent $22,671.
The incumbent is the only candidate with a March finance report, as previous challenger Anthony Miffin dropped out of the race and new candidate Brett Vickers only entered the race April 5.
Driscoll, who was first elected to the District 6 seat in 2017, is the Council Vice-Chair. She will appear on the Aug. 24 St. Pete Primary Election ballot, which will also include the open Mayor’s race.
The district has long been held by Democrats, including Driscoll’s predecessor, Nurse, but is seen as a winnable seat for Republicans despite its large minority constituency in parts of South St. Pete. Vickers is a Republican, though the race is technically nonpartisan.
Democrats have a 6-2 majority on the dais. Ed Montanari and Robert Blackmon are the Republicans.
