Ryan Nicol
Hillary Cassel collected nearly $14,000 in June, putting her ahead of her Democratic opponents in the House District 99 contest once again.
Jeremy Katzman, an administrator at Nova Southeastern University’s Health Professions Division, raised just under $7,000 during the month.
Barry Faske, a member of the Florida Green Building Coalition’s board of directors, showed no outside cash raised yet after joining the race in mid-June. He did chip in a $2,000 self-loan during June. It remains to be seen what he’ll be able to raise during July in his first full month as a candidate.
Cassel, Faske and Katzman are all competing in the Democratic Primary for the chance to succeed House Democratic Co-Leader Evan Jenne in HD 99. Jenne is term-limited in 2022.
Cassel, a lawyer, has now added a total of nearly $166,000 in outside contributions between her campaign account and her political committee, Friends of Hillary Cassel. She also put in $50,000 of her own cash when she first joined the race in late February.
That leaves Cassel with more than $182,000 on hand as of June 30. Katzman holds around $50,000, while Faske has nearly all of his $2,000 self-loan still available.
Democratic Sens. Lori Berman, Janet Cruz, Shevrin Jones, Tina Polsky and Perry Thurston all recently announced they would be backing Cassel’s House bid. Cassel and her husband, Michael, co-founded Cassel & Cassel, P.A. She now focuses on property damage lawsuits, representing individuals seeking insurance payouts after dealing with a fire, storm damage or other catastrophic events.
HD 99 covers parts of Broward County including Southwest Ranches, Cooper City, Dania Beach and Davie, though it’s unclear how redistricting will affect those boundaries.
So far, no Republicans have filed in the contest, though the winner of the Democratic Primary will be favored in the General Election as the district is currently drawn. Jenne was elected to four straight terms, starting in 2014, without facing an opponent once.
Candidates and political committees faced a Monday deadline for reporting all financial activity through June 30.
