A.G. Gancarski
Fundraising was tepid in July for all three candidates vying for Sen. Aaron Bean’s Senate District 4 seat in next year’s GOP primary.
Between political committees and campaign accounts, Reps. Cord Byrd, Jason Fischer, and Clay Yarborough continued to show evidence of active campaigns throughout July, though the most recent fundraising reports show only moderate activity.
Yarborough, emerging as the choice of Senate leadership last week, is stacked with big endorsements, including from regional would-be colleagues Sens. Jennifer Bradley and Travis Hutson.
The money is still a work in progress. His “Floridians for Conservative Values” committee added $11,000 in July, and it’s pushing $350K cash on hand. He raised just over $12,000 for his campaign account, which is nearing $100,000 on hand.
But with Senate President Wilton Simpson and incoming Senate President Kathleen Passidomo endorsing this early, there are strong indications that stronger fundraising is ahead for Yarborough, currently the incumbent in House District 12.
Fischer, who represents House District 16 in Jacksonville, is still the financial frontrunner, and despite endorsements not going his way of late, still expanded his lead over opponents. He has more than $1 million cash on hand after all the money was added up. But allies contend he may run for another office, with one suggesting Duval County Property Appraiser. Fischer is mum on this at this writing.
He raised $12,000 for his “Friends of Jason Fischer” committee, which has nearly $800,000 on hand. Fischer’s “Conservative Solutions for Jacksonville” added another $15,000, giving that account more than $85,000 on hand.
He added another $8,000 in hard money, pushing his campaign account over $120,000 on hand.
The Associated Industries of Florida gave Fischer money in July, suggesting he still has backing.
Meanwhile, questions are raised about the path of the House District 11 incumbent going forward also, specifically whether he runs for something else.
Byrd raised $3,500 to his “1845” political committee and at this writing hadn’t reported hard money yet. Of what’s been reported, he has roughly $113,000 on hand.
There currently are no prohibitively strong candidates in the HD 11 field, but Duval County Republican Party chairman Dean Black is ramping up, potentially complicating a reversal if Byrd wanted to make one.
SD 4, like the House seats these legislators represent, is drawn for a Republican to win. The August Primary likely will be decisive. But decisions loom long before that.
