Charlie Crist brings in $412K for official campaign in June

Image via Jason Delgado.

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist raised $412,000 in the month of June, the campaign announced. That brings his total donations to more than $2 million since he launched his campaign in May.

“I continue to be grateful and humbled by the support our campaign has received from Floridians across the state on our path to build a Florida for all,” Crist said.

“These resources will allow us to continue to take our grassroots message of a better tomorrow from Jacksonville to Key West and everywhere in between. United, we can take back the Governor’s mansion and make sure the voices of all Floridians are heard.”

The St. Petersburg Democrat right now serves in the U.S. House of Representatives but hopes to challenge Gov. Ron DeSantis’ reelection in 2022. Cris served as a Republican Governor from 2006 to 2010.

The fundraising means he still holds a cash advantage on Democratic opponent Nikki Fried, Florida’s Agriculture Commissioner. She pulled in $396,000 to her official campaign account in June, her first month of fundraising since she announced a run for Governor.

That said, a political committee supporting Fried’s candidacy, Florida Consumers First, raised another $416,000 in June to support her run. The Friends of Charlie Crist committee raised $153,000 the same month. That puts Fried’s June intake at $812,000 and Crist’s, combining his committee and the $259,482 raised by his official account in June, at just under $412,500.

A more looming problem, Friends of Ron DeSantis, the committee backing the Governor’s reelection, raised $5.6 million in June alone. DeSantis has yet to open an official reelection campaign account, but that total is more than the major Democratic candidates’ committee and campaign accounts combined.

In addition to his fundraising total, Crist’s campaign also announced several key hires. He brought on Philip Jerez as political director, Gayle Andrews as senior adviser for constituency media, Pamela Burch Fort as a senior adviser and Samantha Ramirez as press secretary.