Clay Yarborough at nearly $600K on hand for unopposed state Senate bid

Clay Yarborough. Image via Colin Hackley.

The drama in Jacksonville’s Senate District 4 was resolved months ago after Republican leaders in the Senate threw in with Rep. Clay Yarborough to succeed term-limited Sen. Aaron Bean.

Despite the lack of an opponent on the horizon, Yarborough in October continued his strong fundraising efforts.

Yarborough raised $47,500 between his political committee and campaign account and is quickly closing in on having $600,000 at his disposal with no competition in sight.

Yarborough’s Floridians for Conservative Values political committee amassed $36,000 in new donations in October.

The committee closed October with $435,000 on hand, and with real momentum. In the last two months, the committee raised $97,500.

Rayonier, Ygrene Energy Fund, and NBC Universal were among the donors to Yarborough’s committee in October.

Yarborough added another $11,500 to his campaign account. The account now has more than $158,000 on hand.

The narrative in this race is radically different than it was before Senate President Wilton Simpson and Senate President-designate Kathleen Passidomo endorsed Yarborough over two rival legislators, Rep. Cord Byrd of Jacksonville Beach and Rep. Jason Fischer of Jacksonville. Fischer actually held a significant fundraising advantage, but no amount of money would have made up for Senate Republicans coalescing to stop him.

Both previous opponents endorsed Yarborough and have moved on to other campaigns. Byrd is running for reelection in HD 11. Fischer is now running for Duval County Supervisor of Elections.

While redistricting continues in the Florida Senate, and the district lines could change, the maps used for the 2020 election all but guarantee a GOP winner.

Of the 401,739 people registered to vote in SD 4 last November, 190,543 were Republicans. The district includes reliably Republican Nassau County, as well as the GOP-dominated precincts in Duval County.

Yarborough, a former two-term member of the Jacksonville City Council, was first elected to the House in 2016. He was reelected in 2018 and 2020.