Jesse Scheckner
Bay Harbor Islands Council member Jordan Leonard hit a fundraising high in January, when he collected more than $50,000, according to a campaign release.
Leonard is seeking to succeed fellow Democrat Joe Geller in the Florida House. Since launching his campaign one year ago, Leonard has amassed about $251,000 between his campaign and political committee, Americans for Florida. Last month marked his largest single-month gain.
His campaign has not yet filed its official January fundraising numbers with the Florida Division of Elections. The deadline for that is Feb. 10.
Provided the state Legislature and Supreme Court approve redistricting map H 8013, which has so far advanced through committee along a mostly party-line vote, Leonard would run in House District 106.
The district covers all of Aventura, Bal Harbour, Bay Harbor Islands, Fisher Island, Golden Beach, Indian Creek, Miami Beach, North Bay Village, Sunny Isles Beach, Surfside, part of North Miami and a coastal portion of unincorporated Miami-Dade County.
Until the final maps for Florida’s House, Senate and congressional districts are approved, Leonard will still be listed as a candidate in HD 100, which Geller has represented since 2014.
Leonard is “clearly the frontrunner for HD 106,” his campaign argued in a statement, attributing his January fundraising uptick to “overwhelming support” from the community.
An elected official for more than 12 years, during which he served as both Mayor and Vice Mayor in Bay Harbor Islands, Leonard is a lifelong resident of the district. He is a past president of the Miami-Dade League of Cities and has served on the Florida League of Cities. Currently, he is a member of the South Florida Regional Planning Council.
Leonard closed 2021 with nearly $179,000 in available cash.
He faces several other Democratic candidates in HD 100, though some may move to other races as boundaries change due to redistricting. His Primary opponents currently include LGBTQ activist Todd Delmay, special education teacher Gustavo Ortega, Clay Miller (the legislative director for Broward County Commissioner Beam Furr), and Miami-Dade Democratic Party Treasurer Evan Shields, who is already eyeing the House District 107 race due to redistricting.
Republican Wena “Lynn Su” Sutjapojnukul, a financial services professional who is vice president of the National Association of Asian American Professionals, among other nonprofit and community roles, also is running in the Democratically leaning district.
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Ryan Nicol of Florida Politics contributed to this report.
