Scott Powers
Democratic U.S. Rep. Charlie Crist has raised another $1 million in campaign cash in April for his gubernatorial bid, the second such month in a row.
In a news release, his campaign did not detail how much of that money came into Crist’s official campaign fund, and how much was raised by his independent political committee, Friends of Charlie Crist. Official postings of campaign money for April will not be available for a few more days to confirm and detail the fundraising efforts.
Crist’s April haul likely will keep him well ahead of rival Democratic gubernatorial candidates Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried and state Sen. Annette Taddeo in the money chase, yet far behind the rainmaking machine supporting re-election of Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Crist’s campaign reported its first $1 million month in March. At that time, his official campaign fund pulled in just under $600,000 while Friends of Charlie Crist deposited about $450,000. The latest reported tallies would mean Crist has raised more than $9.2 million total between the two organizations.
His campaign reported that April’s fundraising efforts saw record grassroots support for Crist, with more than 12,400 individual donors, bringing the campaign’s total number of donors to nearly 44,000.
Through March, Fried had raised about $1.9 million for her official campaign and $5.7 million in her independent political committee, Florida Consumers First. Taddeo had raised about $490,000 for her official gubernatorial campaign and about $1.6 million in her independent political committee, Fight Back Florida.
Meanwhile, through March, DeSantis added about $7.3 million for his official re-election campaign and pulled in $135.8 million in his independent political committee, Friends of Ron DeSantis.
“I continue to be thankful for the thousands of Floridians who believe in our campaign’s mission and are fueling our fight to build a Florida for all,” Crist said in the news release. “The Sunshine State cannot afford another four years under this reckless Governor — that’s why momentum is building in support of our vision for a new, better tomorrow. Help is on the way, Florida.”
Those 44,000 individual donors are nearly all contributing to his official campaign, which has tallied tens of thousands of small donations of $50 or less. Friends of Charlie Crist is where the big checks have been cashed, 158 of more than $10,000, including four of more than $100,000 through the end of March.
