Pat Gerard leads April fundraising, collects $30K

Pinellas County Commissioner Pat Gerard raised over $30,000 in the month of April, widening the fundraising gap between Gerard and her Republican opponent Brian Scott.

The incumbent collected $30,015 in April between her campaign and affiliated political committee, Friends of Pat Gerard. During the same timeframe, Scott raised $13,105 between his campaign account and political committee, Friends of Brian Scott.

Scott previously surpassed Gerard in fundraising in December. But Gerard has held strong in her lead since January, now having amassed $180,690 between her campaign account and affiliated political committee. Scott has totaled $156,165 between his two fundraising sources.

A third candidate, Republican Debbie Buschman, the Lunch Pal coordinator for Pinellas County Schools, raised $1,260 in April from 16 contributors, bringing her total to $18,402.

Gerard’s campaign reported 77 donors in April, including 10 $1,000 donations from contributors including Bottoms Up of Tampa Bay LLC, Grease Depot Inc., GAI Consultants Inc. and Covanta Energy LLC. Her political committee saw nine contributors, including $2,500 from The Fran Haasch Law Group and $1,500 from Place Projects LLC.

As for spending, Gerard’s campaign dished out $4,616 on consulting services and processing fees. Her political committee spent $5,795, primarily on research.

Scott’s campaign reported 36 donors, including five $1,000 drops from organizations including the Mark T. Mahaffey Trust, Liberty Florida PC and David Nelson Construction Co. Scott also received a $1,000 donation from outgoing state Sen. Jeff Brandes. His political committee collected $500 in April from one individual donor.

Scott’s campaign spent $2,726 last month on finance consulting, printing and processing fees. His political committee spent an additional $1,000 on finance consulting.

Gerard started May off with $136,842 cash on hand between her two funding sources, while Scott began the month with $118,025 in available spending money.

District 2 is an at-large seat covering northwest Pinellas County, but it is voted on countywide.

For years, the GOP has been looking to retake the district. Gerard flipped the seat blue in 2014, replacing former Commissioner Norm Roche. Roche lost the Republican Primary that year to now-Sen. Ed Hooper, who lost to Gerard in the General Election.

The race will appear on the 2022 ballot. If no Democrat files to challenge Gerard, she will face the winner of the GOP Primary in November.