Jessica Baker tops $400K on hand for run in new HD 17

Jessica Baker

House District 17 will be a Southside Jacksonville district after the current round of redistricting, and Republican Jessica Baker will enter the new field with plenty of cash after another strong month of fundraising in January.

Florida Politics has learned that Baker, an Assistant State Attorney in the 7th Judicial Circuit, raised $55,000 last month. Of that total, $34,000 went to her political committee, Friends of Jessica Baker. Roughly $21,000 of that went to her campaign account.

That gives her $400,000 in total in her four months as a filed candidate.

Momentum seems to be with Baker, who also boasts a list of notable endorsements.

U.S. Reps. John Rutherford and Michael Waltz, Senate President Wilton Simpson, state Sen. Jennifer Bradley, state Reps. Wyman Duggan and Jason Fischer, Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry, Duval County Sheriff Mike Williams and former House Speaker John Thrasher back Baker, as do six members of the Jacksonville City Council.

Baker originally filed in House District 12, but that seat and district was obliterated in a redistricting process that led to one more seat being added in southern Duval County.

In the days ahead, candidates will be faced with decisions about the futures of their campaigns under these new maps. It remains to be seen if Baker draws any competition for the Republican Primary in August.