Daniel Davis raises $316K hard money in first month as Jax mayoral candidate

Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce CEO Daniel Davis made a statement with his first month of fundraising as an official candidate for Mayor.

Davis, one of four Republicans in the 2023 mayoral race, raised $316,400 to his campaign account in September off 363 individual contributions, with many recognizable names among them.

Ballard Partners donated, as did principals Brian Ballard and Jordan Elsbury. Ed Burr, Abel Harding, Preston Haskell and former Jacksonville City Councilman Jim Love.

Citizens for Building Florida’s Future, a political committee associated with Rep. Wyman Duggan, also donated, as did current Jacksonville City Councilman Kevin Carrico.

Through Sept. 30, Davis also reported having $4.12 million in his state-level political committee Building a Better Economy, with $48,000 having been contributed the week ending Sept. 30 and roughly $85,000 for the month.

With nearly $4.5 million to spend, Davis leads the fundraising race. The next closest competition is another Republican, City Council member LeAnna Gutierrez Cumber. At the end of August, Cumber had nearly $290,000 on hand in her campaign account.

Her JAX First political committee has roughly $2.46 million on hand, with more than $230,000 of that raised in September.

Jacksonville City Councilman Al Ferraro lags behind Davis and Cumber in GOP fundraising, with less than $65,000 on hand in his campaign account after raising just $1,550 in September. He had a little more than $180,000 in his Keep It Real Jax political committee as of Sept. 23, the last date for which records are available at this writing.

Former television journalist Donna Deegan continues to lead Democratic fundraising, with $23,975 raised to her campaign account in September from 215 individual contributions. She now has roughly $235,000 on hand in hard money.

Deegan’s Donna for Duval political committee closed September with its strongest single week of fundraising meanwhile, with $27,860 raised and nearly $320,000 cash on hand. Investor John Allen of Jacksonville led all September donors, contributing $14,000 to Deegan’s committee.

Sen. Audrey Gibson continues to struggle for traction, having reported raising less than $11,000 through August to her campaign account. She raised just $200 to her A Rising Tide political committee in September, and that account has less than $110,000 on hand.

Other candidates have struggled to fundraise thus far, including independent candidates Omega Allen and Darcy Richardson, Republican Frank Keasler, and Democrat Theresa Ann Richardson.