Jacob Ogles
Freshman U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds reported more than $900,000 in total receipts from July through September. But despite being an overwhelming favorite for reelection, he didn’t sock any of it away.
The Naples Republican spent a whopping $914,593 in the third quarter of the off-year. That’s more than the $882,839 in total contributions to his campaign during the quarter. This fundraising quarter comes after a massive $1.1 million haul in the last quarter. But at the end of September, his campaign held $960,940 in cash on hand.
That’s likely plenty as far his reelection chances should go. He’s poised for a rematch against Cindy Banyai, who he defeated last year with more than 61% of the vote running for an open seat.
Banyai is the only other candidate besides Donalds to file for 2022. She raised $15,960 in the third quarter and spent $14,776 of it. She closed the quarter with just $12,853 in the bank to spend.
So what has Donalds spending more money than he’s raising? A massive mail campaign operation.
He dropped $209,842 with Image Direct and $84,865 with America Direct for direct mail. Another $87,993 went to G-Plex Direct Mail. Checks also went to Response America for $56,593, Go Orman for $30,158 and Direct Mail Processing for $19,020. Kessler Creative also got in on the mail game and collected $18,580 from the campaign
He also spent heavily at Campaign Inbox for a variety of services, including text messages, digital advertising, fundraising and email marketing, costing a total of $114,124 over three months.
But much of the funds raised went toward raising more funds. Capital Hill Lists, a firm based in Port Orange, collected $43,311 from Donalds’ campaign. He also paid numerous fees to WinRed.
And Donalds, in a fairly safe race, also shipped a significant amount of money to other Republicans around the country.
He donated to campaigns for Reps. Jim Hagedorn of Minnesota, Peter Meijer and Ann Wagner of Missouri, Don Bacon of Nebraska, Yvette Herrell of New Mexico, Andrew Garbarino, John Katko and Claudia Tenney of New York, Richard Hudson of North Carolina, Steve Chabot of Ohio, Brian Fitzgerald of Pennsylvania, Nancy Mace of South Carolina, Tony Gonzalez and Beth Van Duyne of Texas, and Jaime Herrera Beutler of Washington.
