Kristen Arrington holds just over a $10K cash edge on Carmen Torres in SD 25

Rep. Kristen Arrington maintains a fundraising edge as she runs in state Senate District 25. But the Kissimmee Democrat has just a $10,000 cash edge on Primary opponent Carmen Torres, the wife of Sen. Victor Torres.

Arrington reported more than $13,600 in new donations in the third quarter for her Senate campaign. That brings her total donations to nearly $78,000 overall.

Torres nearly matched Arrington in dollars for the quarter, reporting around $12,800 in new contributions from July through September. That brings total outside contributions to north of $52,300. She has also loaned her campaign nearly $4,200.

Arrington has spent more than Torres. As of the close of the quarter, the Representative had just shy of $60,000 in cash-on-hand for the race. Torres has a little more than $49,000. A total of $10,482 separates the candidates.

Arrington also chairs Friends of Arringtons, which raised $27,000 during the quarter and boasts almost $37,000 in cash-on-hand.

Arrington and Torres remain the only Democrats filed for the seat. Sen. Torres cannot run again because of term limits.

Republicans also have an interest in the seat.

Osceola County School Board member Jon Arguello filed for the seat in September and has raised more than $18,100 in that time.

St. Cloud Republican Jose Martinez, founder of cell phone dealer Elite Metro, jumped in the race a day after Arguello. He reported just under $1,200 in contributions over that time.

But the seat favors Democrats strongly. In 2020, President Joe Biden won the district with almost 59% of the vote while Republican Donald Trump  just cracked 41%.

That said, Sen. Torres had a closer call in November. The Orlando Democrat won re-election with about 53% of the vote to Republican Peter Vivaldi’s 47%.

The district covers all of Osceola County and part of Orange County.