Jacob Ogles
Democrat Alan Cohn collected an additional $400,000 for his run for Congress in the third quarter. More than half of that came after he secured the Democratic nomination in Florida’s 15th Congressional District.
The money comes as Cohn runs in the most closely divided congressional district in the state. The veteran broadcaster and candidate faces Republican Laurel Lee, Florida’s former Secretary of State.
“It’s clear our campaign has the momentum to win this competitive race. Our opponent is stuck not knowing whether to appease her party’s extreme base or cater to her community’s more sensible beliefs,” said Ken Wood, Cohn’s Campaign Chair. “On the other hand, our campaign and our candidate is right there standing with his community, and has the resources to communicate the winning message.”
Cohn’s campaign said support came from 1,200 individual donors.
Cohn won the Democratic nomination in August. He ran for a different configuration of CD 15 in 2018, but lost to now-U.S. Rep. Scott Franklin.
But Franklin, a Lakeland Republican, sought re-election in Florida’s 18th Congressional District this year following Florida’s redistricting process.
Polls have shown the race is competitive. Republicans have an edge based on registration, but a small one. When books closed to register for the Aug. 23 statewide Primary, there were just 1,679 more registered Republicans than Democrats in CD 15.
Under the new lines for CD 15, about 50.86% of voters went for Republican Donald Trump in the 2020 Presidential Election and 47.74% voted for Democrat Joe Biden. That’s roughly the same margin Trump won Florida by in that election cycle.
But registration trends have Democrats hopeful the seat is trending from slightly pink to firmly purple. The campaign has also hit Lee on issues like her anti-abortion rights stance and called on her to repudiate Florida Republicans in Congress who just voted against a resolution providing disaster funding after Hurricane Ian.
