Anne Geggis
Republican Rep. Toby Overdorf of Palm City doesn’t have a challenger to stop him from winning a third term in the House, but he did have his best fundraising month this cycle in December to defend his seat should one emerge.
Between his personal account and his political committee, Heavens to Oceans, the Representative for House District 83 raised $108,700 last month, the most he’s raised since opening campaign accounts. He won’t be able to raise much money in the next two months, though. Lawmakers are not allowed to collect cash while the Legislature is in Session.
He made the most of his last chance for a while. Both his political committee and his personal account saw sizable jumps in activity. Since opening his political committee’s account in 2017, no monthly fundraising has ever added up to more than $11,000, compared to the $86,500 his political committee collected in December. And he spent $53,599, when previous month’s expenditures have never added up to more than $21,808.
December’s haul was propelled by contributions from various sectors such as health care, entertainment, construction, insurance, real estate, political consultants, and law firms. His campaign now has $85,616 to spend, should any challenger emerge.
He received $15,000 from each of four organizations. They were Tallahassee-based Strong Communities of Southwest Florida, a. political committee; Florida First Forever, another Tallahassee-based political comittee; McNicholas &. Associates Inc., a Palm Beach Gardens public relations firm; and NextEra Energy of Juno Beach.
Donations of $10,000 came from political committee Mitigation Banking for Florida’s Future of Tallahassee and Michael Corcoran, known as one of Tallahassee’s top lobbyist.
Philip A. Bush of Fort Piece, a beverage distributor, gave $7,500. NACM-ICPC PAC INC, a Tallahassee committee representing the construction industry, donated $5,000.
Entertainment organizations accounted for the biggest share — $5,000 — of Overdorf’s December contributions to his personal account. Three Disney affiliates gave him $1,000 each, as did NBC/Universal Media of Universal City, California, and the Seminole Tribe of Florida in Hollywood.
The construction industry chipped in $3,000 from three different sources: ABC-PAC’s East Coast Chapter in Coconut Creek, which represents construction interests; Engineering Design and Construction of Palm City; and White Rock Quarries of West Palm Beach.
Two affiliates of the hospital chain HCA Healthcare in Tallahassee each gave Overdorf $1,000 checks. And political consultants at the same Tallahassee address, Ericks Consultants and TSE Consultants, each gave Overdorf $1,000. Real Property Probate & Trust in Tallahassee contributed $2,000.
Overdorf, an environmental consultant, spent little from his campaign account in December, but his political committee spending was also a record. He sent a total of $50,000 to the Florida House Republican Campaign Committee.
While Overdorf currently is unchallenged in HD 83, one House redistricting map shows his district changing to House District 85. Another map under consideration shows him living in House District 86.
For now, though, his district in the Port St. Lucie metro area straddles Martin and St. Lucie counties and includes Port St. Lucie, Stuart, Ocean Breeze Park, Sewall’s Point, and the unincorporated regions Jensen Beach, North River Shores, Palm City and Rio.
Overdorf’s campaign faced a Monday deadline to report financial activity through Dec. 31.
