Mike Wright
The two Republican candidates for Citrus County Commission District 2 are neck-and-neck financially as the campaigns heat up for the final stretch to the Aug. 23 Primary.
Diana Finegan finished June raising $51,150 total for her campaign, while Stacey Worthington had raised $50,917, according to the Citrus County Supervisor of Elections website.
Both candidates line up in spending too: $28,221 for Finegan and $22,236 for Worthington.
Worthington’s numbers are impressive in that Finegan had a five-month head start, opening her campaign in August.
Reports show Finegan’s monthly fundraising topping at $9,808 in January, the same month Worthington entered the race. Since then, Worthington has outraised Finegan each month, including June when Worthington raised $17,330 to Finegan’s $2,100.
Finegan has spent much of her funds on campaign signs and mail pieces. Worthington’s spending is for campaign signs, consulting and advertising, though she said mail pieces are being sent out this week.
District 2 is an open seat, but the Primary is limited to only Republican voters due to a no-party affiliation candidate on the November ballot.
Meanwhile in District 4, political newcomer John Murphy Jr. is keeping up with Rebecca Bays and outraising Winn Webb, both former Commissioners.
Murphy, digital director at the Citrus County Chronicle, where his wife Trina is publisher, opened his campaign in January when Bays was then a candidate for House District 23. Bays switched to the County Commission in May following Rep. Ralph Massullo’s decision to seek re-election rather than try for Senate District 11.
Bays’ entering into the Commission race didn’t dissuade Murphy supporters, as he had his biggest fundraising month in May where he picked up $13,350 — including 12 individual $1,000 donations. Murphy shows total collections of $38,750 and has spent $13,271.
Murphy’s biggest single expense was $5,661 in June for mail pieces to Golden Jaguar Consulting LLC of Largo, owned by Rep. Chris Latvala, a Clearwater Republican.
Bays, an insurance businesswoman, shows collections of $58,216, which includes $36,146 she had raised in the HD 23 campaign. Those numbers also include $20,000 in candidate loans — half in December, when Bays opened her House race, and the other half in May when she joined the District 4 race.
She spent about $36,000, including $9,679 from the HD 23 campaign account. Bays also invested heavily in direct mail — $15,867 in early June.
Webb, a retired Citrus County Sheriff’s deputy, shows $26,625 in contributions, but $20,500 of that is his. Most of Webb’s $10,657 in spending is for advertising and signs.
With no one but Republicans on the ballot, the District 4 Primary is open to all voters regardless of affiliation. The winner will be decided in the Aug. 23 voting.
