Tristan Wood
Civil rights lawyer Ben Crump gave $1,000 to Adner Marcelin’s City Commission campaign last month. Marcelin previously worked for Crump for more than 10 years.
Crump, who has represented the families of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown and George Floyd as well as the plaintiffs behind the 2019 Johnson & Johnson baby powder lawsuit, gave two checks to Marcelin’s campaign, according to Leon County campaign finance records. In 2018, Crump’s law firm gave a $250 in-kind donation to Marcelin’s opponent, City Commissioner Dianne Williams-Cox, during her first campaign.
Daryl Parks, another lawyer and Crump’s former business partner, also gave Marcelin $1,000 in December. He also gave $500 to Williams-Cox, according to campaign finance records.
Despite the support from his former employer, Marcelin’s fundraising total is far behind his opponent. Since entering the race two months ago, he has raised only $4,100, all of it in December. That bested Williams-Cox’s December total of $2,195, but overall she has raised $33,680.
Several Tallahassee companies have thrown their financial support behind Williams-Cox.
NAI TALCOR, a real estate brokerage firm and five of its subsidiaries gave a total of $6,000 to her campaign. Sachs Media Group, a Tallahassee-based communications company, gave $1,000. Moore Bass Consulting and Moore Bass Management Co. both gave $1,000.
Williams-Cox hasn’t been sitting on her war chest. To date, she has spent $14,855.16. Her spending includes more than $10,000 sent to Lamar Media for billboards and advertising. Marcelin’s camp has only spent $5.
