Jared Moskowitz added $665K in first 27 days of congressional campaign, Q1 reports show

Image via AP.

U.S. Rep. Ted Deutch did not announce he was retiring until the last day of February, but campaign finance reports show Jared Moskowitz’s campaign to succeed him immediately sprang into action.

With his campaign announced on March 4, Moskowitz added a total of $665,641 in the first quarter, which ended March 31. He is vying to represent the district that straddles Broward and Palm Beach counties in Congress.

That amount includes a $5,800 donation Moskowitz made to his campaign and $250,000 he loaned it.

His campaign ended the first quarter of 2022 with $647,601 cash on hand — even though his campaign was active only 27 days in that period.

Notable names donating to his campaign include Senate Democratic Leader Lauren Book, who gave the maximum, along with her father, Ron Book, who is one of the state’s most influential lobbyists. John Morgan of Lake Mary, founder of the personal injury firm Morgan & Morgan, also gave the maximum. Sen. Janet Cruz of Tampa chipped in $250. Former Pompano Beach City Commissioner Barry Dockswell gave $1,000.

Donors who gave the maximum $5,800 donation showed Moskowitz’s reach to an array of sectors, with a notable number coming from disaster recovery services.

Among those giving the maximum for individuals were Gavin Attwood of Littleton, Colorado, CEO of the Brain Injury Alliance of Colorado; Chase Book of Aventura, a project manager at AshBritt, a disaster recovery company; Pat Book, an Aventura homemaker;  Blair Byrnes of Aventura, who is in technology sales; Alyssa Carrier of Littleton, Colorado, CEO of AC Disaster Consulting; Brittany Castillo of Delray Beach, an executive at AshBritt; Michael Cohen of Pompano Beach; Carlos Duart of Miami, CEO of CDR Maguire, a medical and health disaster recovery support services company; Miles Austin Forman, a Fort Lauderdale real estate developer; Sheldon Gross of Hillsboro Beach; Tiffany Heckler of Miami Beach, CFO of LSN Partners; Alexander Heckler of Miami Beach, managing partner of LSN Partners; and Gerald Holland of Oakland Park, CEO of Sheltair Aviation Services.

Also on that list was Nicholas Iarossi of Tallahassee, consultant at Capital City Consulting; lawyer Jamie Isicoff Miller of Miami Beach; Adolphine Lazowick of Pompano Beach, former president and CEO of KEITH Engineering; Allison McLeary of Pensacola, a consultant with Tetra Tech; Jennifer Michelsen of Austin, Texas; Matthew Michelsen of Austin, Texas founder of Gothams, an emergency management company; Brad Miller of Miami Beach, land acquisition director of Lennar Homes; Lauren Miller of Miami, a health insurance adviser; Leah Moskowitz of Parkland, a beauty and fashion blogger married to the candidate; John Noble of Lighthouse Point; Jennifer Ozar of Manhattan Beach, California, who works in real estate; Ryan Ozar of Manhattan Beach, who works in tire sales; Randal Perkins of Deerfield Beach, chairman of AshBritt Environmental; Fred Rothman of Boca Raton, COO of Lennar Corp.; Bill Rubin of Boca Raton; Cole Rubin of Boca Raton; Niki Rubin of Boca Raton; and Tina Vidal-Duart of Tallahassee, executive vice president of CDR Maguire.

Through the donation conduit, ActBlue, Moskowitz raised $391,541.

Moskowitz received political action committee support from two sources: $1,000 from the law firm Gray Robinson’s PAC, and $2,500 from U.S. Sugar Corporation, based in Clewiston.

The campaign spent $18,039 in the first quarter, with all of it going to ActBlue Technical Services aside from $2,500 that was paid to MDW Communications in Fort Lauderdale for website development.

The cash on hand at the Moskowitz campaign dwarfs what his rivals for the seat have at the ready.

Among them:

Republican Jim Pruden added $70,795 in the first quarter, including $45,500 of his own money. James Batmasian, a Boca Raton real estate investor, gave him the maximum donation allowed — $5,800. After spending $17,050, the campaign was left with $101,367 cash on hand.

Republican Darlene Swaffar raised $96,346 in this period and spent $57,786. That left her with $64,719 cash on hand.

Republican Steve Chess added $21,516 during this period. Of that, $20,000 is a loan Chess made to his campaign. He spent $7,596, leaving his campaign with $36,042 on hand.

Republican Christy McLaughlin, who filed shortly before Deutch announced his retirement, reported $19,885 raised and $18,009 on hand after spending $1,975 in the first quarter.

Mark Napier, who has no party affiliation, reported contributing $4,943 of his own money. He spent $3,379 and ended the quarter with $1,564 on hand.

Candidates who haven’t filed first-quarter reports yet are Fort Lauderdale Vice Mayor Ben Sorensen, a Democrat, political neophyte Curtis Calabrese, also a Democrat, and Christine Scott, who is running with no party affiliation.

The district they are vying to represent stretches from Boca Raton to Fort Lauderdale, including Coconut Creek, Coral Springs, Lighthouse Point and Parkland, as well as parts of Deerfield Beach, Margate, and Pompano Beach.