Tristan Wood
Tallahassee City Commissioner Jeremy Matlow has so far outraised his 2022 challenger, David Bellamy, by a little over $10,000.
Matlow’s campaign to keep Tallahassee’s City Commission Seat 3 has raised $41,762 and taken on $12,500 in loans, giving him about $50,000 on hand after spending $3,738 as of Oct. 31, according to Leon County Supervisor of Elections records.
Bellamy’s $29,200 raised with $10,000 in loans brings his campaign’s piggy bank to $39,200. He has spent only $461.
Despite fewer overall funds, Bellamy has raised money quicker. His donations all came in October, the month he first filed for the race, while his opponent had received donations from as far back as last November. Lisa Brown, Matlow’s top-challenger in 2018, raised just $12,860 in the first month of her campaign.
Matlow so far has had 428 campaign contributions, averaging about $98 each. Bellamy has received 39 contributions, averaging $749. Seven of Bellamy’s donors work for The Southern Group lobbying firm. Combined, they’ve contributed $6,500.
Bellamy’s campaign also received a donation from one of Matlow’s political rivals. State Attorney Jack Campbell gave $1,000. Campbell called for the Commissioner to be voted out of office in 2022 during a speech at the Greater Tallahassee Chamber of Commerce’s annual conference in August, according to the Tallahassee Democrat.
Matlow had announced he was boycotting the conference in the Tallahassee Democrat on July 30, saying business leaders had ignored public corruption. The Chamber’s leadership censured him for his comments later that day.
“It’s silly to listen to a pizza maker about criminal justice policy. We must stand up to the evil men and their 12 trolls on Twitter,” Campbell said in his speech.
Matlow called Campbell’s comments an “angry, personal attack” in a texted statement to the Democrat after the speech.
Bellamy’s campaign treasurer, J. Andrew Gay, is also the treasurer of Mayor John Dailey‘s 2022 campaign. Dailey and Matlow have frequently butted heads during their shared tenure in Tallahassee’s government.
The total dollars in the race are expected to keep climbing as its gets closer to next year’s election. Matlow raised $136,000 in his successful 2018 campaign.
The Seat 3 election will take place on Nov. 8, 2022.
