Jordan Leonard hauls in $23K for HD 106 run with help from real estate, legal firms

Jordan Leonard posts a personal best.

Former Democratic Bay Harbor Islands Mayor Jordan Leonard collected more than $23,000 last month to maintain his fundraising lead in the race for House District 106, with noteworthy showings from real estate and legal businesses.

Leonard has raised $331,000 since filing to run in February 2021. As of April 30, he had about $278,000 between his campaign account and political committee, Americans for Florida.

Leonard gained a clear path to the General Election this week when Miami Beach Commissioner David Richardson, his sole Democratic Primary opponent dropped out of the race.

Fewer than 10 people donated directly to Leonard last month. Among them was outgoing Democratic state Rep. Joe Geller, who in August endorsed Leonard to succeed him in the redrawn HD 106. Geller gave $100, the same sum he donated to Leonard’s campaign last June.

Leonard’s greatest gains came from the real estate sector. A company called One Kane Concourse LLC, owned by property developer Irwin Tauber, contributed $5,000. IMC Equity Group, a North Miami-headquartered firm owned by Israeli investor Yoram Izhak, gave $2,500 through five subsidiaries.

Real estate investor Carlos Rios chipped in $2,000 through a pair of companies he owns.

From the legal field, Leonard received $5,000 from Miami firm Bercow Radell Fernandez Larkin & Tapanes.

He also got $2,500 from Jeremy Britton, chief operating officer of Alabama- and Kansas-based disaster response company Custom Tree Care. Britton donated $1,000 to Leonard’s campaign last year. The new contribution went to Leonard’s political committee.

Leonard, who has been racking up endorsements from state and local officials and organizations, spent about $5,500 in April. Aside from $223 he spent on campaign T-shirts and a small sum covering general upkeep costs, his spending went exclusively to political consulting.

Republican mortgage lender and community leader Wena “Lynn Su” Sutjapojnukul added more than $4,500 to her campaign coffers last month, bringing her total gains since launching her campaign in June 2021 to about $56,000.

Of that, she had about $48,000 left by April 30.

Fourteen people donated to Sutjapojnukul last month through checks of between $50 and $1,000.

She spent just over $500, most of it on petition submission fees and buying voter database information.

Sutjapojnukul is a first-generation American of Thai descent who has held several current and past Miami-Dade County advisory board memberships. She is also vice president of community outreach for the Miami branch of the National Association of Asian American Professionals.

Her Primary opponent, former reality TV star Fabían Basabe, raised just $201 in April after entering the contest a month earlier with a $251,000 self-loan.

All but $1 of the money he raised in April came from actress Celia Gruss.

So far, Basabe has reported no spending.

HD 106 runs along the Miami-Dade coast and includes all or part of the municipalities of Aventura, Bay Harbor Islands, Miami Beach, North Bay Village, North Miami Beach and Sunny Isles Beach.  

Candidates faced a May 10 deadline to report all campaign finance activity through the end of April.