Kelly Hayes
Dade City small business owner Kevin Steele has added more than $360,000 in the first month of his bid for the newly drawn House District 53, his campaign announced Tuesday.
Steele, a Republican, collected $110,000 in donations and another $250,000 in self-funding to kick-off his campaign. Steele launched his campaign at the start of February for the new HD 53, which will cover portions of Hernando and Pasco counties. The district is separate from the current HD 53, which covers part of Brevard County and is represented by Republican Rep. Randy Fine. Fine now resides in the new House District 33.
“I am humbled by the tremendous outpouring of support from my family, friends and colleagues. This experience has been unique and fulfilling,” Steele said in a statement.
Steele’s campaign provided the latest funding update. More information will be available when finance reports are released by the state Division of Elections.
Steele grew up in the Tampa Bay area and attended Hillsborough Community College and the University of South Florida.
After attending USF, he worked for GTE and was eventually recruited for a start-up called Z-tel. At Z-Tel, he built his first application identifying and managing leakage surrounding incumbent local exchange carrier contracts.
“It has been conservative principles that have made Florida free and it’s those same principles that will keep it that way. Woke politicians should be on notice. I’m for handcuffing criminals, not cops. I’m for lowering taxes and putting government on a diet. I’m for giving people the freedom to make their own choices and parents the final say when it comes to their children,” Steele said in a statement.
In 2001, he launched a tech data company after meeting a family friend who was a physician, which has since grown into a $56 million enterprise.
The company provides payers, providers and health care partners with real-time data aggregation and dynamic dashboards as well as reporting. The news release said the business helps “drive value by reducing cost of care, improving quality scores, ensuring risk adjustment accuracy and simplifying health care navigation.”
