Chip LaMarca raises nearly $60K to defend coastal Broward House District

Republican Rep. Chip LaMarca, raised nearly $60,000 in April, his second-best performance of this election cycle to defend his seat representing coastal Broward County.

LaMarca is the only Republican who represents a district entirely contained within blue Broward County. After deciding against a bid for Congress to succeed U.S. Rep Ted Deutch, he’s in a rematch for the General Election with a Democrat he bested by 10 points in 2020.

Between his personal account and his political committee, Citizens Helping Improve Policy, LaMarca has $320,914 on hand to defend his seat representing House District 100 and win a third term, after adding $59,100 in April donations.

Three donors gave LaMarca’s campaign $2,500 each: NextEra Energy Capital Holding, more widely known as Florida Power & Light, based in Juno Beach; Morse Operations Inc., a Delray Beach automotive company; and Vertical Bridge, a Boca Raton real estate investment trust company. Those three donations were his biggest checks of the month.

Real estate donations accounted for nearly $10,000 of his April haul. LaMarca’s collections show that law firms and attorneys also accounted for a large part of last month’s 

donations. Thirteen checks from that sector totaled $6,350 in donations.

Giving the $1,000 maximum check allowed for personal campaign accounts in April were: Robert Birdsong of Fort Lauderdale, president of OK Generators; Colin Brown of JM Family Enterprises in Deerfield Beach; Keith Koenig of Plantation, CEO of City Furniture: Sandra Moss, a Fort Lauderdale retiree; Alise O’Brien of Lauderdale-by-the Sea, CEO of Homes LLC and her husband, Timothy O’Brien, an executive at Sprinklermatic, a fire prevention company; Charles Palmer of Fort Lauderdale; Restaurant People Management Co. of Fort Lauderdale; Riverside Hotel in Fort Lauderdale; Anita Setnor-Byer, president of a Plantation insurance risk company; Shutts, a Miami law firm; Nuvision Management, a Lighthouse Point health care company; Barry Somerstein, a Fort Lauderdale attorney; Brent Upchurch, a Sea Ranch management company executive; Lincoln Day, a Lighthouse Point retiree; Trinity Global Enterprises, a Fort Lauderdale public relations firm; James Clooney, in financial services in Syosset, New York; Connections HG LLC, a Miami real estate company; Gallo Development Management, a Deerfield Beach real estate development company; Lighthouse Point Yacht Club; Conservatives for Rural Florida; John Csapo, a Pompano Beach real estate developer; Jim Moran & Associates, a Deerfield Beach automotive company; Courtesy Insurance of Deerfield Beach; Fidelity Warranty Services of Deerfield Beach; Terence Paterson, a Fort Lauderdale general contractor; Paterson Project Management, a Lighthouse Point general contractor.

GoDaddy website services and a $1,000 donation to the Tallahassee-based Treasure Florida political committee accounted for nearly $1,800 of LaMarca’s campaign expenses, which came to $3,079 in April.

LaMarca’s challenger, Linda Thompson Gonzalez raised $14,715 for her campaign, including a $5,000 loan she gave her campaign. After spending $226, Gonzalez has $14,489 to spend on her campaign.

Notable names on her donor list include Plantation City Commission member Nick Sortal, who gave $100; Wilton Manors Vice-Mayor Paul Rolli, who gave $100; Fort Lauderdale City Commissioner Ben Sorensen, who is also running for Congress and gave Gonzalez $500; former Pompano Beach City Commissioner Barry Dockswell, who gave $500; and Democratic Rep. Marie Woodson, who gave $100.

Gonzalez received $1,000 from John Schecter, a Hollywood retiree; John Topping, a mathematical statistician in Chevy Chase, Maryland; Edwin Stansell, a Fort Lauderdale retiree; Pauline Brooks, a Lauderdale-by-the-Sea retiree.

The district that extends roughly from Port Everglades to the Palm Beach County line was called House District 93 but now it’s been renumbered HD 100. The district elected Joe Biden in 2020 by less than 1 percentage point, according to Matt Isbell of MCI Maps.

The campaigns were facing a May 10 deadline to report all April financial activity.