Gray Rohrer
With little more than a month until Election Day — and just a few days until mail ballots are sent to voters — Rep. Webster Barnaby is starting to spend down his campaign war chest in a closely watched GOP Primary against fellow Rep. Elizabeth Fetterhoff.
Campaign finance records show Barnaby spent $25,300 in June, more than half of the $55,000 he’s spent during his whole re-election campaign. Of that, more than $20,000 went to advertising.
Barnaby raised just $9,400 last month, giving him a negative burn rate, but he still has more than $87,000 left in his campaign account, $12,500 more than Fetterhoff as of July 1.
Fetterhoff, meanwhile, spent $3,000 on printing and $4,100 on consulting and advertising last month. She spent $13,000 in total while raising $5,000.
However, Fetterhoff has a political committee, United for Florida’s Future, with $39,000 in its account as of July 1. But the committee raised just $1,500 and spent $1,650 last month.
Last week each campaign touted endorsements from police groups. Fetterhoff got the backing of the Police Benevolent Association while the Fraternal Order of Police is supporting Barnaby.
The pace of spending is likely to pick up as the Aug. 23 Primary draws near. Supervisors of Elections can begin mailing ballots to voters on Thursday. The last day to register to vote for the Primary is July 25.
The pair of Volusia County Republicans — Fetterhoff lives in DeLand; Barnaby hails from Deltona — were drawn into the same district during the redistricting process. House District 29 includes western Volusia County and stretches across Interstate 4 to grab DeLand as well. It’s the only 2022 legislative race featuring two incumbents.
Meanwhile, the lone Democrat in the race, Rick Karl, entered the race in May and has raised $20,200, including $9,600 last month. He’s spent nearly $9,000, including $3,000 on yard signs and $1,700 on the qualification fee.
