Anne Geggis
Freshman Republican Rep. Dana Trabulsy raked in her biggest take yet in her current bid for re-election, raising $93,254 in 28 days against a political newcomer who’s been left in the dust when it comes to the money race.
Trabulsy is up against retired hospital executive and Democrat Forest Blanton to continue representing House District 84, which supported President Donald Trump by a slim margin in 2020. The district that covers most of St. Lucie County went for the former President by 2 percentage points over President Joe Biden, according to election data expert Matt Isbell of MCI Maps.
And it looks like state Republicans don’t want to take any chance of losing the district that before this has always been blue territory, according to Treasure Coast Newspapers. The Republican Party of Florida (RPOF) gave Trabulsy’s campaign $49,000 in cash plus $8,000 worth of staff time, in the period between Sept. 10 to Oct. 7. This party donation comes in addition to the $18,200 she received in staff and polling support from the RPOF in the period covering Aug. 1 to Sept. 9.
Between her personal account and two political committees, Friends of Dana Trabulsy and St. Lucie Strong, Trabulsy holds $274,120 for her campaign. Blanton’s campaign kitty, meanwhile, holds just $2,807, as of Oct. 7.
Besides the RPOF support, Trabulsy’s next-biggest check, $10,000, came from the Florida Federation for Children, based in Alexandria, Virginia, school choice advocacy political committee. Donations from health care interests formed the biggest sector of support, collectively adding up to $12,000 in donations.
Individual Republicans also rallied to her side during this reporting period. She received $1,000 from Honest Leadership, a Tallahassee-based political committee that Republican Rep. Sam Garrison Chairs; $1,000 from Vero Beach Mayor Robert Brackett, also a candidate for House District 34; and $250 from Indian River County Tax Collector Carole Jean Jordan.
Trabulsy’s haul for this period was more than 26 times the $3,519 Blanton raised between Sept. 10 and Oct. 7.
Trabulsy was outpaced in her spending, however. She expended $1,500 to the $4,020 her rival spent. Most of Trabulsy’s spending between Sept. 10 and Oct. 7 went to SimWins in Tampa, which she paid $1,236 for consulting and subscription.
Blanton, a retired Memorial Healthcare System administrator, sent his biggest check this period to his Campaign Manager — $1,500 went to Andi Poli of Port St. Lucie. He spent a little less for campaign signs. He paid $1,435 to Delivery Signs in Orlando and $577 to SignsOnTheCheap.com in Austin, Texas.
Trabulsy unseated one-term incumbent Democratic Rep. Delores Hogan Johnson in 2020 by about 6 percentage points, Treasure Coast Newspapers reported.
The campaigns were facing a deadline to report all financial activity through Oct. 7 last week.
