Debbie Wasserman Schultz collects $315K in 3Q, including two donations from Steven Spielberg

DEBBIE WASSERMAN SCHULTZ
The director and his wife, actress Kate Capshaw each sent $5,800 to Wasserman Schultz's reelection bid

Democratic Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz added more than $315,000 last quarter, giving her more than $885,000 in available cash to defend her seat in Florida’s 23rd Congressional District.

A win in next year’s midterms would secure Wasserman Schultz a 10th term in the House.

The SEIU donated $5,000 to Wasserman Schultz during the third quarter. Influential lobbyist Ron Book maxed out his donations to Wasserman Schultz with a pair of $2,900 contributions — one for the Primary Election and one for the General.

Wasserman Schultz also tapped into some Hollywood star power for her third-quarter reports. Director Steven Spielberg and his wife, actress Kate Capshaw, each sent $5,800 to Wasserman Schultz’s reelection bid — $2,900 for the Primary and another $2,900 for the General.

Edward E. Haddock, Jr., co-chairman and CEO of Full Sail University, also donated $2,900 to Wasserman Schultz. City Furniture CEO Keith Koenig added a $1,000 contribution.

Wasserman Schultz spent nearly $181,000 during the quarter. She sent $15,000 to the Miami-based BTS Strategies for campaign management consulting. More than $11,000 went to The Frost Group for fundraising consulting. Wasserman Schultz also shipped $50,000 as a donation to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

That leaves Wasserman Schultz with more than $885,000 cash on hand, far ahead of Republican candidates Carla Spalding and Rubin Young.

Spalding raised slightly more than Wasserman Schultz — just under $318,000 — but shipped out nearly $310,000 in expenditures. She netted just over $8,000 between July and Sept. 30, leaving her with just over $102,000 on hand.

Spalding and Wasserman Schultz faced off in last year’s General Election, a race Wasserman Schultz won by 16 percentage points. Wasserman Schultz has secured at least 56% of the vote each of the last four cycles. But it’s unclear how redistricting will affect the makeup of CD 23, which currently covers parts of Broward and Miami-Dade counties, including Weston, Davie, Cooper City and Surfside.

Young raised only $7,500 during the third quarter and held a little over $3,000.

Candidates and political committees faced a Friday deadline to report all financial activity through Sept. 30.

Ryan Nicol

Ryan Nicol covers news out of South Florida for Florida Politics. Ryan is a native Floridian who attended undergrad at Nova Southeastern University before moving on to law school at Florida State. After graduating with a law degree he moved into the news industry, working in TV News as a writer and producer, along with some freelance writing work. If you'd like to contact him, send an email to [email protected].



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