Jacob Ogles
Sen. Jason Brodeur may be dealing with nasty headlines, but he’s also flush with cash. As of Oct. 7, the Sanford Republican holds more than $126,000 in his campaign account. And his political committees control more than $400,000 more.
Democratic opponent Joy Goff-Marcil, meanwhile, is down to under $20,000 in cash on hand, but that’s a result of stepping up spending as the Nov. 8 election nears. Indeed, when combined with efforts of a political committee, more than $150,000 was spent on the Goff-Marcil’s behalf in just the first week of October, while Brodeur spent next to nothing.
Both parties continue to prioritize Senate District 10 in their efforts to win seats in the Legislature’s upper chamber. But the big question right now is when Brodeur’s massive resources will be deployed on the trail.
Brodeur raised $19,900 in the two weeks leading into the latest financial reporting deadline, despite a continuous trickle of news around a “ghost candidate” scandal involving his 2020 election to the Senate. Seminole County Republican Party chair Ben Paris was convicted of a fraud, and Jestine Iannotti, the no-party candidate who ran against Brodeur in 2020 in an apparent attempt to siphon voted from Democrat Patricia Sigman, testified she believed Brodeur was a financial contributor to her campaign.
This hasn’t stopped Brodeur from continuing to outpace Goff-Marcil, who raised $12,010 in the last fundraising period herself. But the major gap in cash-on-hand for the campaigns comes courtesy of the Democrat starting to spend her money, with vote-by-mail ballots landing in mailboxes throughout SD 10.
Goff-Marcil dropped $50,000 on advertising with the Washington-based firm 76 words. She pumped another $3,595 into digital efforts through Tallahassee-based Evergreen Strategies, and also paid to have a presence at recent events like Orlando’s Come Out With Pride event.
Brodeur, by contrast, has largely kept his resources in wait. He did drop $3,520 on postage alone for mailers, and spent $750 with JVC Media.
Also, two political committees under Brodeur’s control remain silent for now. Citizens for Solutions, a Brodeur-chaired committee with $382,806 in cash at its disposal, has reported no spending since the end of August. Another committee, the Freedom and Liberty Fund, has $33,085 in the bank. Its last major expenditure was a $50,000 contribution to the Florida Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee.
That has been returned and then some through in-kind support from Florida Senate Republicans’ political arm. The FRSCC provided $50,000 in research to Brodeur’s campaign, along with $567,636 worth of campaign staff time and a $7,800 poll.
This means the committees as of Oct. 7 held more than $400,000 that could be deployed on Brodeur’s behalf.
Meanwhile, the Goff-Marcil-controlled Joy for Florida political committee is down to $6,084. But that’s after spending a massive $100,285 in the first week of October alone. The bulk of that, $100,000, went to advertising services from 76 words.
Meanwhile, the Florida Democratic Party has continued to provide in-kind support to Goff-Marcil, who chose not to run for re-election to the House in order to challenge Brodeur. The party to date has provided $121,160 worth of support, including $43,000 in research alone.
The district has a slight Democratic advantage, with 130,384 registered Democrats compared to the GOP’s 128,929 voters, according to the most recent L2 voter data. There are another more than 112,000 no-party voters.
