Ryan Nicol
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.
