Drew Wilson
Montverde Republican Taylor Yarkosky has raised more than $80,000 for his campaign to succeed exiting Rep. Anthony Sabatini in House District 32.
Yarkosky’s campaign announced the fundraising totals Monday, though his campaign finance reports for April were not yet available on the Florida Division of Elections website. The total includes money raised through an affiliated political committee, Lake County Conservatives.
The $80,000 milestone comes a month after Yarkosky announced raising more than $45,000 in March.
In an announcement, the campaign said it’s gaining steam and “racking up the support of many prominent community leaders and raising the financial resources necessary to run a sustainable and effective campaign.”
Yarkosky, who describes himself as a constitutional conservative, entered the race in mid-March with a wave of endorsements from local leaders. Day one backers included Rep. Keith Truenow, Lake County Sheriff Peyton Grinnell and Lake County Commissioners Sean Parks, Doug Shields and Kirby Smith.
He has since added more, including Groveland Police Chief Shawn Ramsey and Lake County Tax Collector David Jordan and Rep. Chip LaMarca.
Yarkosky faces Winter Garden Republican Matt Silbernagel in the primary for HD 32, though the two could find themselves in separate districts depending on how district lines shift after reapportionment last year.
Silbernagel entered the race in mid-April and has not yet filed his first campaign finance report.
The current district covers southern Lake County and stretches from Leesburg past Clermont and south to the Polk County line. The district also includes Howey-in-the-Hills, Astatula, Mascotte, Groveland, Minneola, Montverde.
It is a solidly Republican seat. As of the book closing before November’s elections, the district had 58,989 registered Republicans and 47,001 Democrats.
