Bryan Avila eclipses $200K raised in two months as he pursues Miami-Dade County Commission seat

Image via Colin Hackley.

Rep. Bryan Avila raised nearly $68,000 in July for his bid for Miami-Dade County Commission, giving him more than $200,000 in just two months since declaring his candidacy.

Avila has a deep well of donors to tap into thanks to his eight years serving in the House. Facing term limits in 2022, Avila is competing against Ibis Valdés to determine who will succeed Rebeca Sosa in District 6 on the County Commission. Sosa too is barred from running again due to term limits.

Valdés raised just over $7,700 in July.

Avila announced his intent to run for the seat on June 1. That month, Avila pulled in nearly $132,000, thanks in part to contributions from his fellow House Republicans. Avila is serving as House Speaker Pro Tempore in his final term.

July’s fundraising reports show Avila returned to that source. Political committees associated with Reps. Vance Aloupis, James Buchanan, Tom Leek and Bob Rommel all donated $1,000 to Avila’s bid, as did Rep. Ralph Massullo in his personal capacity. Two different PC’s tied to Sen. Ray Rodrigues also each donated $1,000.

PC’s associated with GOP House candidate Rachel Plakon, the wife of Scott Plakon, as well as former Rep. Travis Cummings also contributed $1,000 each.

Avila also collected $6,500 from various real estate companies. He added $6,000 from supermarket companies, with most of those donations coming from Presidente Supermarket and Tropical Supermarket.

Lawyers and law firms contributed $5,500. That includes a $1,000 donation from the high-powered Becker & Poliakoff law firm.

Avila collected nearly $55,000 through his campaign and pulled in another $13,000 through his political committee, Fighting for Florida’s Families. Tenet Health and Mata Consult each donated $5,000 to Avila’s PC.

While Avila leaned into large donations, Valdés once again relied on smaller dollar donations. Donations to the Valdés campaign averaged around $100 a person. That included a $100 donation from prominent political strategist Ben Pollara.

Neither campaign spent significantly during the month. Avila reported just under $2,500 in expenditures. But $2,000 of that came from two separate $1,000 donations to Collen Burton’s Senate campaign and Esteban Bovo’s bid for Hialeah Mayor.

Valdés spent a little over $2,000, mostly on catering and design fees.

While Avila has raised just over $200,000 since declaring for the District 6 contest, his PC is sitting on a big chunk of cash built up over his previous House campaigns. As of July 31, Avila holds nearly $844,000 between his two accounts. Valdés retains just over $29,000.

Avila is serving his fourth term representing House District 111, which covers parts of Miami-Dade County including Miami, Miami Springs and Virginia Gardens. The western portion of Avila’s House District overlaps in part with District 6 on the County Commission. Valdés, meanwhile, works as a business consultant.

Candidates and political committees faced a Tuesday deadline to report all financial activity through July 31.