Kelly Hayes
House District 66 candidate Alen Tomczak raised $10,975 in May for his Florida House campaign, bringing his total fundraising to $64,170 since he launched his campaign in March.
Tomczak faces fellow conservative Berny Jacques in the race to succeed Rep. Nick DiCeglie.
Jacques, who filed his finance numbers Monday, raised $14,127 in May for his campaign. Between his campaign and affiliated political committee, Florida Values Coalition, Jacques has raised $55,542 this cycle.
Tomczak, an Army Veteran and current member of the Army National Guard, reported 17 contributors to his campaign in May, a contrast from Jacques’ 77 reported donors.
Tomczak received eight $1,000 donations, including from Tallahassee lobbyist Ron Book, Book’s consulting firm, Orange Blossoms Funding, Broadleaf Property Management, BCL Medical Fund, and several beer wholesalers PACs and organizations.
“I am honored by this show of support from the community,” Tomczak said in a news release. “Even while I was on duty for a week in Camp Blanding and unable to actively campaign, our message continued to spread because of our support from local community leaders. It’s clear that our community wants a hardworking veteran and fighter who will put our children, our safety, and our constitutional rights above politics.”
As far as spending, Tomczak dished out $3,546 in May, with $2,000 going to fundraising consulting services, and the remainder split between accounting services and credit card processing fees.
Jacques’ campaign account had a lighter spending month, spending $2,217 in May, including $1,500 on advertising, $263 on legal and professional fees and the remainder on credit card processing fees. However, his political committee did report $6,315 in expenditures — all of which was sent to the Libertatem PAC.
Tomczak’s tight purse strings have left him with slightly more cash in the bank. Between the pair’s finances, Tomczak enters June with $54,560 on hand, while Jacques starts with $52,676.
So far, Jacques and Tomczak are the only two filed for the race in the red district covering parts of northwest Pinellas County, including Clearwater Beach south to Indian Shores.
Jacques previously ran for HD 66 in 2018, losing the GOP primary to DiCeglie.
HD 66 has a conservative advantage, with nearly 50,000 registered Republican voters to just over 38,000 Democrats. The district also includes nearly 34,000 independent voters.
