Kelly Hayes
Republican Rep. Nick DiCeglie raised more than $18,000 in September for his bid to succeed Sen. Jeff Brandes.
DiCeglie raised $18,470 between his campaign and its affiliated political committee, Economic Freedom Committee. DiCeglie’s raised $12,470 last month for his official campaign, and his committee brought in $6,000 in the same period.
With the added money from his committee, DiCeglie more than doubled the fundraising of Democratic opponent Eunic Ortiz whose campaign collected $7,427 in September.
DiCeglie’s campaign reported 17 contributors in September, including a dozen donations worth $1,000, including from prominent lobbyist Ron Book, Conservatives for Good Government PAC, Florida Apartment PAC, New Jersey-based pharmaceutical company Merck Sharp & Dohme Co. and Fighting for Florida Families PAC.
The candidate’s affiliated political committee received two contributions in September, $5,000 from Humana and $1,000 from T-Mobile.
DiCeglie spent $15,636 in September between his campaign and the political committee. His campaign dished out $2,122 split between fundraising consulting and social media consulting.
His affiliated committee spent $13,514, primarily on fundraising consulting, as well as $1,000 contributions to House District 69 incumbent Linda Chaney’s campaign, House Speaker Pro Tempore Bryan Avila’s Miami-Dade County Commission campaign and Dave Gattis’ Belleair Beach mayoral campaign.
DiCeglie, who has raised a total of $520,665 between his campaign and committee to date, will enter October with $316,147 cash on hand — a large funding advantage over Democratic competitor Ortiz, who entered the race in June.
Ortiz’s latest fundraising report showed 61 contributors, most of whom donated less than $100. Ortiz received two $1,000 donations, one from 32BJ SEIU and another from Grassroots Analytics CEO Danny Hogenkamp.
Ortiz spent $1,509 in September between photography services, processing fees and event fees.
Since she kicked off her campaign in mid-June, Ortiz has raised $59,165 and has spent $34,329, giving her $24,836 to start October.
Currently, DiCeglie also faces Republican challenger Timothy J. Lewis, who has so far not raised any funds in the race.
SD 24 covers much of Pinellas County, including parts of St. Petersburg, Seminole, Largo, most Gulf Beaches and parts of southern Clearwater.
Ahead of the 2020 election, the district was home to about 357,000 voters, about 37% of whom are registered Republicans. Democrats held a 33% share of the electorate. In 2018, the last time the seat was on the ballot, Brandes defeated Democrat Lindsay Cross by about 10 points.
