Anne Geggis
Redistricting put Sen. Tina Polsky in territory with a lot less Palm Beach County and much more northwest Broward, but it looks like the Republican Party of Palm Beach County can’t forget her.
The party gave $3,500 to her Republican opponent William “Bill” Reicherter, who lives in Parkland.
Still, the freshman Senator, who first served in the House, is well-armed to defend a Senate seat, even if Senate District 30 is a lot less familiar to her. Between her personal account and her political committee, Americans for Progress, she has a war chest of $234,202. That compares to the $3,666 Reicherter has on hand, including a $1,800 loan to his campaign.
In June, Polsky raised $9,020. Her biggest boosts came from medical and real estate interest groups. Collectively, real estate interests sent her $3,000 and medical political committees gave her another $3,000 with political committees representing obstetricians/gynecologists, eye doctors and pathologists. Race Trac gave her $1,000, and a handful of individual donors gave her donations of $100 or less.
For June expenditures, the bigger checks from Polsky’s campaign were $2,000 to Spotlight Strategies in Orlando for fundraising, $1,150 to Bluestream Consulting LLC in Fort Lauderdale for compliance services and $1,000 to Janet Cruz’s campaign. Her qualifying fee was also on the expense list.
Last Session, Polsky landed in the national headlines when Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo refused her request that he put on a mask while in her office to mitigate her COVID-19 risk, since she was undergoing breast cancer treatment.
She also proposed four bills that would have tightened rules governing gun ownership, but none of them made it out of committee in the Republican-controlled Legislature.
Redistricting initially put Polsky in the same district, Senate District 26, as her friend and ally Sen. Lori Berman. But Polsky moved to another Boca Raton address and landed in SD 30.
SD 30 covers Coconut Creek, Coral Springs, Margate and Parkland, as well as parts of Boca Raton, West Boca, North Lauderdale, Pompano Beach and Tamarac.
Her opponent is a vice president at Jones Sign Company. In 2020, Reicherter lost a four-way race for a seat on the Parkland City Commission.
In addition to the Republican Party’s contribution, Reicherter also received a $48 donation from Rossi Lausso of Coconut Creek, who works in talent acquisition.
Reicherter spent $738 on campaign T-shirts at Oruga’s in Coral Springs in addition to the $1,781 qualifying fee.
The campaigns were facing a deadline earlier this week to report all financial activity through July 1.
