Ryan Nicol
Republican Rep. Tom Fabricio added $10,000 in June and is now approaching $50,000 raised in defense of his House District 103 seat.
Fabricio courted 10 maxed-out $1,000 donations in June from a wide array of sectors including real estate companies, the Florida Public Health Fund political committee, and Latin Sandwich Express, a Doral-based restaurant.
June marks Fabricio’s third-highest fundraising mark of the cycle. He added more than $20,000 in March and nearly $13,000 in February. Fabricio has now raised just over $48,000 total this cycle and still has close to $46,000 on hand.
So far, no candidates have filed to challenge Fabricio, though Election Day remains more than a year out. The HD 103 Primary Election will take place on Aug. 23, 2022. The General Election will follow on Nov. 8, 2022.
Fabricio won the HD 103 seat last November, ousting Democratic Rep. Cindy Polo. Polo had flipped the seat in 2018, but Republicans took back control after Polo served just one term in the House.
Fabricio’s 2020 win was largely aided by a Republican wave year in Miami-Dade County. The district covers parts of Miami Lakes and Doral in Miami-Dade County and also extends into Miramar in Broward County.
It’s unclear whether that GOP success in Miami-Dade was a one-cycle blip or the sign of a political shift. Democrats may bank on the latter and try to win back the seat they held fewer than 12 months ago.
During the 2021 Legislative Session, Fabricio successfully pushed through a bill barring local governments from requiring gas stations to install electric charging areas. The state is working on adding those charging stations near highways, but Fabricio and Republicans were worried about moving too quickly to green energy and leaving oil producers behind.
“I believe that there is a lot of talk throughout the state from different portions of different initiatives that would absolutely seek to eliminate petroleum immediately or as quickly as possible,” Fabricio said in explaining the bill’s purpose.
“While I support green initiatives, we need to take things in a measured approach, and we can’t simply eliminate the sale of petroleum, and that’s what this bill seeks to do.”
Candidates and political committees face a Monday deadline to report all financial activity through June 30.
