Kathy Castor dominates fundraising game with over $1M cash on hand

Incumbent U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor has continued to maintain a hefty war chest over challengers — including a $1 million cash on hand lead over all candidates.

Castor, who is running for re-election in Florida’s 14th Congressional District, collected $251,959 in Quarter 2, which ended in June. That brings her total raised in the 2022 election cycle to $1.1 million.

“After a year of hard work collecting enough petitions signed by thousands of our neighbors and a strong grassroots fundraising effort this quarter, I am ready to go door-to-door and listen to voters as I love to do. I am grateful for the outpouring of broad-based support from our Tampa Bay community. I will continue to work hard in a proactive, positive campaign in Tampa and St. Petersburg,” Castor said in a statement.

Maxed-out donors, who have donated $2,900 to Castor’s campaign this quarter, include Bill Gates, TRB Development developer Trevor Burgess, investor and former Barack Obama advisor Mark Gallogly, Tampa Bay philanthropist Frank Morsani and developer and Tampa Bay Lightning owner Jeff Vinik.

Other notable donations to Castor this quarter include $2,500 from Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers PAC and Fox Co. PAC, $1,500 from the American Medical Association, $2,000 from Publix Super Markets Associates PAC and $1,000 from former St. Petersburg City Council member Charles Gerdes.

In Q2, Castor’s campaign spent $98,843, including almost $25,000 on payroll, $15,000 on fundraising consulting and $10,000 to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

Her closest competitor fundraising-wise is Republican Jerry Torres, who entered the race in June. Torres has so far collected $207,400 — including $206,400 in self-funding. He enters next quarter with $65,581 cash on hand. The former Green Beret developed personal wealth after founding Torres Advanced Enterprise Solutions, which he sold in 2019.

However, Torres may not even be on the ballot in August, after the Florida Democratic Party filed a lawsuit seeking to disqualify the Republican congressional candidate. His hearing is this Monday.

Torres faces James Judge in the Republican Primary for the seat. Judge has raised $145,027 since launching his candidacy, and will start July with $10,775 cash on hand.

A third Republican candidate, Sam Nashagh, has reported collecting $18,650, including $15,000 in self-funding.

Castor also faces a challenger in the Democratic Primary — Christopher Bradley. Bradley put $11,000 in self-funding into his campaign in Q2, and has so far put forth $26,000 in self-funding. He has amassed a total of $38,972 since starting his campaign.

Whoever wins the Republican nomination in CD 14 faces an enormous uphill climb against incumbent Castor, the likely Democratic nominee, as she seeks her ninth term to represent the Tampa district.

Under a new map signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, the seat leans heavily Democratic and covers downtown Tampa and St. Petersburg. About 58.8% of voters in the district as newly configured voted for Democrat Joe Biden in the 2020 Presidential Election, and just 39.72% favored Republican Donald Trump.