Does Jeff Vinik like Charlie Crist three times more than he likes Nikki Fried?

Nikki Fried has no worries about Charlie Crist. Or so she says.

Tampa Bay Lightning owner Jeff Vinik, through his private investment firm America Investment Holdings LLC, donated $16,000 to Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried’s political committee in her bid for Governor.

POLITICO first reported the contribution, but it’s pretty clear it came from a tip-off from Fried’s team.

That’s not unusual and, in itself, isn’t necessarily worth pointing out. Of course a candidate would want to tout a major contribution from a big-name donor out of one of the state’s most important voting blocs.

No, what makes it funny is this:

The same Vinik entity also kicked in $41,000 to U.S. Rep. Charlie Crist’s PC, Friends of Charlie Crist, according to reports on its website. Sources tell Florida Politics he added another $9,000 in hard money not yet visible in public record.

Oops.

So, it raises the question: Does Vinik support Crist three times more than he supports Fried?

It’s not unusual for deep-pocketed individuals and groups to throw down cash on more than one competing candidate. It happens up and down the ballot, from St. Petersburg’s mayoral election — where developers dropped cash for more than one top-polling candidate — all the way up to presidential races. Developers, special interest types and the sort, all want to make sure they’ve got a seat at the table with whomever wins. This isn’t new.

But it’s often telling when they give more to one candidate than another, in this case by a big difference.

Fried is, of course, up against Crist for the Democratic nomination for Governor. And she could use a boost. Polls consistently show her lagging behind Crist, and both of them behind incumbent Gov. Ron DeSantis.

She’ll still be able to tout that sweet, sweet Vinik money. But she had better hope Team Crist doesn’t take the opportunity to grab some low-hanging fruit and slather on a little snark by pointing out they actually got more.

And while I’m at it, let’s also take a second to tease POLITICO’s Gary Fineout for a second. In his initial reporting, he referred to Vinik as the owner of the Tampa Bay Rays. Another oops, but hey, we all fumble from time to time (to add a third sport into the mix) and he has since corrected the oversight.

Good catch by @fineout: Jeff Vinik, owner of the Tampa Bay Lightning (not Rays, unless Gary knows something we don't…), has donated to the gubernatorial campaign of Nikki Fried through his investment group. pic.twitter.com/RjwRTsOpWY

— Steve Contorno (@scontorno) August 19, 2021