Jesse Scheckner
Republican Sen. Ileana Garcia banked $32,000 last month to defend her District 37 seat in 2022. The haul brings her campaign war chest to over $183,000 more than a year from an election in which she has no opponents so far.
Garcia’s campaign has nearly $70,000 to spend, up $10,500 from June, according to her filings with the Florida Division of Elections. Her political committee, No More Socialism, has more than $113,000, thanks to $21,500 in July donations.
More than two-thirds of her donations came from South Florida’s booming home construction industry and two of the state’s most prominent lobbyists.
Her largest two donations in July were for $5,000 apiece. One came from Better Roads for Florida, a political committee run by Ivory Matthews, the director of community and government affairs for private homebuilder Neal Communities. The other was from Fort Lauderdale-headquartered general contracting firm Moss & Associates.
Pinecrest-based Epic Construction Inc. gave another $1,000, as did insurance industry advocacy group Florida Insurance Council.
Lobbyist Ron Book, whose family and businesses contribute to most Florida legislative incumbents seeking re-election, gave $7,500 through three eponymous sources and two corporate entities called Gift Scenario Inc. and Confection Connections Inc. Book has represented many corporate and government agency clients, including Coca-Cola and Miami-Dade Public Schools, as well as numerous Florida counties and South Florida municipalities, including many within Garcia’s district spanning a large portion of Miami-Dade’s coastline from Cutler Bay to the City of Miami.
Southwest Florida accountant Eric Robinson, dubbed by his hometown newspaper as “the prince of dark money” due to his reputation as a highly connected campaign money man, gave $2,500 through one of several committees he runs, Building on Your Dreams Political Committee.
Other contributions included $3,000 from the Converge Government Affairs firm, which rebranded in June as Converge Public Strategies but donated under its older moniker; $2,500 from Better Florida Education, a political committee fellow GOP Sen. Manny Diaz Jr. of Hialeah runs; $1,000 from Olds Havana Cuban Bar & Cocina in Little Havana; $1,000 from eye care company South Florida Vision: $1,000 from lobbyist Albert Balido, managing partner of Anfield Consulting; and $500 from government affairs consultant Max Losner of Fort Lauderdale law firm Becker & Poliakoff.
Garcia unseated Democratic incumbent José Javier Rodriguez by a 34-vote margin in November in a race that has since led to a pair of felony charges tied to election meddling. Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle’s office in March said it had no evidence Garcia, who denied involvement, knew of or took part in the scheme.
Garcia is the co-founder of Latinas for Trump and served as deputy press secretary at the Department of Homeland Security in former President Donald Trump’s administration.
Florida senators typically serve four-year terms, but like all other Florida lawmakers, she will be on the ballot in 2022 because of redistricting to reflect the 2020 Census.
