Lauren Book raises $13K in August from four donors
Image via Lauren Book Senate office.

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The Broward Democrat faces her first challenger in Senate District 32.

Sen. Lauren Book raised $13,000 in August for her campaign to continue representing Senate District 32 in Broward County.

Compared to her massive war chest, that’s a relatively modest haul for the Plantation Democrat, who will begin her first Session this January as Senate Democratic Leader. Between her campaign and her political committee, Leadership for Florida, Book has about $2.3 million in cash on hand, according to campaign documents.

Her sole opponent, Diana Bivona Belviso, a Davie Republican, reports zero cash donations since announcing her candidacy in March 2020. The Pembroke Pines Charter School civics teacher shows $395 worth of in-kind donations in the last 17 months of campaigning,

Book’s campaign received $1,000 from John Milledge, a Fort Lauderdale lawyer who also lobbies for the NHL’s Florida Panthers. Her campaign also received $1,000 from both Walt Disney Travel Company and Walt Disney Gift Card Services. For her political committee, the sole donation in August was $10,000 from the state’s teachers’ union, the Florida Education Association.

Her spending was nominal. She paid just $206 in August for accounting and e-commerce fees in her campaign account.

Book first joined the Senate after winning a 2016 contest in Senate District 32 after redistricting. That election was only for a two-year term, however. Book won reelection in 2018 for her first full term. That allows her to seek another four-year term in 2022 without running into the state’s term limits.

Book drew no opposition in her two previous bids. She made her name in the state well before her time in the Senate. The daughter of high-profile lobbyist Ron Book, she founded the nonprofit organization Lauren’s Kids in 2007, which advocates on behalf of victims of child sex abuse. Book herself is a survivor.

Book’s district covers portions of Broward County including Weston, Davie, and Cooper City. Candidates face a Friday deadline to report all August fundraising activity.

Anne Geggis

Anne Geggis is a South Florida journalist who began her career in Vermont and has worked at the Sun-Sentinel, the Daytona Beach News-Journal and the Gainesville Sun covering government issues, health and education. She was a member of the Sun-Sentinel team that won the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for coverage of the Parkland high school shooting. You can reach her on Twitter @AnneBoca or by emailing [email protected].


2 comments

  • Ron Ogden

    September 11, 2021 at 5:41 pm

    I shouldn’t say this, I am sure I will regret it, but I must: Senator Book reminds me of the front end of a 1951 Studebaker.

    • Lauren Book For State Prison

      September 20, 2021 at 8:01 am

      Lauren Book’s lips are firmly planted on the rear end of her lobbyist dad.

Comments are closed.


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