Kelly Hayes
Raymond James executive Tom Mullins has cut another hefty check for his St. Petersburg City Council campaign — this time for $90,000.
Mullins, who faces former prosecutor Lisset Hanewicz in the race for District 4, reported raising $90,600 in the latest campaign finance filing, which accounted for the first week of October, lasting from Oct. 2 through Oct. 8. That amount is made up of $90,000 in self-funding, $500 from the Pinellas NOW PAC and a $100 individual donation.
The latest report brings Mullins’ total fundraising to $197,655, which includes $180,100 of his own money.
Hanewicz, on the other hand, raised $3,505 in the same timeframe, according to city finance reports. She reported 10 donors, including three $1,000 donations from organizations such as IUOE Local 487, Local Union No. 915 and Emily’s List.
Since launching her campaign, Hanewicz has raised $106,949, including $5,500 in self-funding.
With plenty of resources at his disposal, Mullins is amping up spending ahead of the Nov. 2 General Election.
Mullins dished out $87,187 in the latest period, with most going to media advertising, including more than $16,000 for a television ad buy, as well as nearly $10,000 on text communications.
Hanewicz spent $3,772 during the same timeframe — all but $20 on advertising and the remainder on processing fees.
Mullins will enter the next finance period with $14,820 cash on hand, and Hanewicz with $8,354 in available spending money.
The candidates are running to succeed Darden Rice on the City Council.
Recently, Mullins came under fire from local union officials for campaign mailers appearing to attack first responders and their unions. Hanewicz publicly condemned the mailers, pointing to a quote on the mailers credited to Mullins that smears public worker unions, as well as a blurb from his campaign site, which says city employees are overcompensated “above private-market benchmarks.”
In the most recent polling, Mullins leads Hanewicz with 21% support to Hanewicz’s 19% among the 484 people polled. However, most respondents — 60% — said they are unsure or didn’t want to say who they will support.
Even though the race is nonpartisan, Mullins is running as a fiscal conservative in a city that favors Democrats, putting him at a statistical disadvantage against the more progressive Hanewicz.
