Jesse Scheckner
Republican Sen. Manny Diaz Jr. raised more than $74,000 to defend his Senate District 36 seat last month, with large chunks of that intake coming from health care and pharmaceutical companies.
As of Nov. 30, Diaz held nearly $486,000 between his campaign and political committee, Better Florida Education. So far, no one has filed to run against him next year.
The medical sector was particularly generous to Diaz last month and accounted for 40% of his fundraising for the month. His biggest contribution, a $10,000 check, came from a Tennessee-based political committee backing Boston-headquartered oral health company DentaQuest.
Prescription company Caremark RX gave Diaz $5,000. Sunovion, a Massachusetts-based drugmaker, gave $3,000.
Miami-headquartered company CDR Maguire, which provides an array of services including engineering work, health assistance, infectious disease aid and COVID-19 testing, donated $2,500. So did Hopebridge, an Indianapolis-based autism therapy center operator that in August announced a 30-center expansion into Florida over the next 12 to 18 months.
Diaz also received $1,000 contributions from pharma company Eli Lilly, Hillard-based nursing facility operator Dayspring Senior Living, Gainesville health insurance company AvMed, the Florida Dental Association, a political committee backing clinical lab operator Quest Diagnostics, and HCA Florida Healthcare, which operates more than 400 health care sites in the state.
The hospitality, gaming and entertainment industry was also generous last month. The Florida Vacation Rental Management Association, headquartered in Kissimmee, chipped in $5,000. The Seminole Tribe of Florida, which is in a legal battle over the future of casino gambling in the state, gave $2,000. And the Florida Professional Vacation Rental Coalition in Tallahassee gave Diaz $500.
He also got $7,000 from Comcast Corp., split evenly between contributions from the company itself and subsidiary NBCUniversal.
From the agriculture sector, Diaz took in $1,000 from American Export Corp., whose business line includes the wholesale distribution of agriculture machinery and equipment. Agro-Industrial Management Inc., a subsidiary of American Export, gave another $1,000.
Closter Farms in Loxahatchee did likewise, giving $1,000 directly and the same amount through Vandergrift-Williams Farms, with which it shares an address. So did Stofin Co., an affiliate of West Palm Beach-headquartered sugar giant Fanjul Corp.
As they’ve done in the past, first responder groups also supported Diaz. A political committee backing the Florida Professional Firefighters, a Tallahassee-based trade group representing full-time, paid firefighters and emergency medical services personnel, donated $5,000. Miami-based union Metro Dade Firefighters Local 1403 gave an additional $1,000.
Other noteworthy contributions included $6,000 from Boca Raton-based private prison operator The GEO Group, $2,500 from lobbyist Ron Book and a pair of his companies, $2,500 from automated toll payment company American Traffic Solutions, and $1,000 apiece from the Florida Transportation Builders Association, law firm Greenberg Traurig, consulting company Capitol Alliance Group, the Florida Bankers Association and the lobbying arm of JPMorgan Chase.
Diaz spent more than $11,000 in November. Most went to campaigning and consulting costs.
His biggest single expenditure was a $3,000 payment to Cape Coral-based consultancy firm Upper Hand Strategies. Yohana de la Torre, one of the firm’s two founding partners, serves as Diaz’s media consultant.
He also paid $2,500 to the Christian Family Coalition for an event sponsorship, $2,150 to Hialeah-based Jorge Caraza for canvassing, $1,500 to Miami-based 88th Strategies for digital marketing and $250 to Doral consulting firm Campaign Precision.
Diaz’s only contribution to another campaign last month was a $1,000 check to Luis Rodriguez, who won a lopsided runoff race for the Hialeah City Council Nov. 16.
Diaz last month also refunded a $1,000 donation received in June from the Florida Association of Health Plans.
A former assistant principal with Miami-Dade Public Schools, Diaz served three terms in the Florida House from 2012 to 2018, when he won his SD 36 seat by a nine-percentage-point margin.
SD 36 spans the inland, northwestern, Republican-leaning portion of Miami-Dade County, including the municipalities of Doral, Medley, Hialeah Gardens, Miami Springs, Virginia Gardens and his hometown, Hialeah. It also covers the unincorporated Fontainebleau, Gladeview, Tamiami and West Little River neighborhoods, as well as Miami International Airport, the county’s top economic generator.
If current redistricting plans are approved, Diaz would remain in the district based the mailing address he listed in his Division of Elections filings.
Candidates faced a Dec. 10 deadline to report all campaign finance activity through Nov. 30.
