‘The most incredible June’: Donna Deegan trumpets fundraising, internal poll in Jax mayoral race

Donna Deegan is now one of three Democrats in the 2023 Jacksonville mayoral race, and on Monday, she again made the argument for her strength going forward.

In a Twitter video, Deegan effusively thanked those who “continue to power this ‘change for good’ campaign.”

“We had the most incredible June,” Deegan said, citing a “six-figure month” of fundraising, the building of a “grassroots army,” and an internal poll showing her up over the rest of the still-coalescing mayoral field.

“That’s a trend we’ve seen over and over again since the start of this campaign,” Deegan said, urging supporters to “keep going” and maintain their “eyes on the prize.”

Deegan’s fundraising has been slow and steady. Still, she remains well behind Republican LeAnna Cumber, who is the leading fundraiser among filed candidates, as well as the political committee of Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce CEO Daniel Davis.

But June seemed to be a deliberate show of strength for her campaign, timed to send a message not just to Republicans but to new Democratic entrants into the field.

Deegan raised $41,213 in hard money in June, with her Donna for Duval political committee hauling in nearly $63,000 in the month. Between the two accounts, she has roughly $530,000 on hand. Retired businessman Howard Fineman contributed $24,000, with trial lawyer Wayne Hogan chipping in another $10,000 in the month.

Though Deegan had a strong month, at least two candidates outperformed her.

Democratic state Sen. Audrey Gibson’s June report is not available at this writing for her campaign account. But her political committee, “A Rising Tide“, has raised $110,000 already, with former CSX executive Michael Ward and the Jacksonville Kennel Club providing the first donations.

The most recent Democrat to join the field, Theresa Ann Richardson, will not have to file a fundraising report until next month.

Cumber, a Jacksonville City Councilwoman, continued to post strong fundraising numbers for her mayoral bid, raising more than $155,000 in June.

The Republican candidate has now raised nearly $2.8 million for her campaign between her campaign account and her political committee, JAX First. All told, she has roughly $2.4 million cash on hand, giving her a lead over all currently filed candidates.

The elephant in the room, meanwhile, is the seemingly imminent Davis candidacy. The  Building a Better Economy political committee has nearly $4 million cash on hand, but just $35,000 of that sum was raised in June, the committee’s worst performance this year.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart to the hundreds of donors who stepped up to make June a six-figure month of fundraising and the best yet since launching our campaign! #ChangeForGood #DuvALL pic.twitter.com/W5sigdm9BI

— Donna Deegan (@DonnaDeegan) July 11, 2022