Spending picks up in Jacksonville mayoral race

Davis is starting to spend serious money already.

The two strongest fundraisers in the Jacksonville mayoral race are starting to deploy their war chests ahead of qualifying next month

Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce CEO Daniel Davis spent more than $196,000 between his campaign account and his Building a Better Economy political committee in November. Davis, a Republican, spent more than $170,000 of that sum from his political committee, which started fundraising in earnest months before he formally launched his candidacy.

The committee spent $100,000 on media with Flexpoint Media, an additional $40,000 with Data Targeting, and sent $14,553 to Isaac Communications, among the expenditures. Of the more than $26,000 spent from the campaign account, PRI Productions accounted for more than $23,000.

Davis still has plenty of money to spend, with more than $455,000 in his campaign account and more than $4.04 million in his political committee.

The second-leading fundraiser in the field, fellow Republican LeAnna Gutierrez Cumber, also started spending more heavily in November. Her JAX First political committee spent $77,185 in November, the most it has spent in any month to date, and almost as much as the $78,600 it raised.

More than $70,000 of the spend went to FP1 Strategies of Arlington, Virginia, and the Moore Information Group of Missoula, Montana, for consulting and voter contact, respectively.

Cumber’s committee still has more than $2.5 million on hand.

She also spent $9,351 in November from her campaign account, which has more than $329,000.

The leading Democratic fundraiser, former television news anchor Donna Deegan, hasn’t matched the fundraising on the Republican side, but spending is picking up from her also. Her Donna for Duval political committee spent more than $20,000 last month, with consulting taking up $7,500 of that spend and digital services another $6,000. The committee had roughly $319,000 to deploy at November’s end.

She spent more than $9,000 from her campaign account as well in November, with consulting and digital services eating up more than half, along with a direct $15,000 buy in the Florida Star newspaper.

While strong fundraising has allowed these three candidates to start making moves, others in the field are still trying to amass resources. Democrat Audrey Gibson spent a little more than $2,000 in November between her campaign account and her A Rising Tide political committee.

The former state Senator has a little more than $21,000 in hard money, but her political committee has new resources, with a $135,000 donation from the Trusted Leadership political committee in November pushing that account’s cash on hand to more than $230,000.

Republican Al Ferraro, a Jacksonville City Councilman, likewise has struggled to fundraise during his campaign, but spent more than $7,300 in November, the bulk of that on yard signs. Between his campaign account and his Keep It Real Jax political committee, he has roughly $240,000 on hand.

Five other candidates are running, and none of them have enough fundraising to do much. NPA candidate Omega Allen has under $2,000 on hand, leading this group. Republican Frankie Keasler, Jr. has a little more than $200 to spend, and Democrat Theresa Ann Richardson has no money raised at all yet.

Independent Darcy Richardson has $17.76 on hand, and write-in Brian Griffin, who has run before, also has no money on hand.

The Jacksonville mayoral First Election is in March, and the top two finishers will advance to a May General Election, unless one gets a simple majority that may be unattainable in such a crowded field.