Jesse Scheckner
U.S. Rep. Mario Díaz-Balart raised more than $294,000 in the third quarter of 2023 toward winning his 12th term representing Florida’s 26th Congressional District next year.
His gains came through a blend of more than 210 personal checks, national security contractor contributions and donations from political, demographic and business interest groups.
The Q3 haul nearly doubled Díaz-Balart’s fundraising since he won re-election in November with 71% of the vote.
Combined with carry-over funds from prior election cycles, he held $1.47 million by the end of last month, according to his Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings.
The largest contribution he received was $10,000 from L3Harris Technologies, a security and weapons company headquartered in Melbourne. Parsons Corp., a Miami-based security, defense and infrastructure company, gave $6,500, adding to $1,000 it gave before this cycle.
Defense contractor Raytheon donated $5,000 on top of $2,500 it gave in prior quarters this year. BAE Systems, an international defense, aerospace and security company donated $2,500. Boeing contributed $2,000. Lockheed Martin gave $1,000.
The Hispanic Leadership Trust, which focuses on electing conservative politicians of Hispanic descent, donated $7,500 to Díaz-Balart last quarter. It’s given him $11,900 this cycle.
More than a handful of other interest groups provided funding as well. 150PAC, which promotes engagement on “economic development, humanitarian relief, alliance-building, stability, and democracy” efforts worldwide, gave $5,000. So did PASS PAC, which represents aviation safety specialists and the American Council of Engineering Companies.
The American Bankers Association gave $2,500. Truck PAC, which donates on behalf of the trucking industry, and the American Chemistry Council, which has been critical of chemistry-related regulations under President Joe Biden’s administration, kicked in $1,000 each.
More than half of the personal checks Díaz-Balart received were bundled by the National Association of Realtors (NAR) and came from people living in and outside of Florida. Combined with prior donations through the organization, he has accepted $95,500 in NAR-linked contributions this cycle.
The NAR also contributed $2,000 more in Q3 through its political action committee, Realtors PAC.
Two people gave Díaz-Balart maxed-out $6,600 donations — $3,300 for both the Primary and General elections, which the FEC considers separate races. One was Remedios Diaz-Oliver, the now-retired president of All American Containers, a rigid-packing company now part of the Vertiv brand. The other was Norman Willox, managing partner and CEO of national security firm Bluewater International.
Willox is a senior adviser to Fortress Information Security, an Orlando-headquartered cybersecurity company from which several executives donated as well. Executive Chair and co-founder Peter Kassabov gave $3,300, as did CEO and co-founder Edward Santos. COO Elizabeth Soehren Jones and Saneel Amin, Fortress’ CFO, each donated $1,000.
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise gave $2,000 in addition to $5,000 from his leadership PAC, Eye of the Tiger.
Díaz-Balart took three gambling-related donations: a pair of $3,300 checks from the Seminole Tribe of Florida and the Alabama-based Poarch Band of Creek Indians, and $1,500 from the National Thoroughbred Racing Association.
Information technology company Leidos gave $4,000. Verizon and Microsoft donated $3,000 and $2,500, respectively, while Amazon doubled its contributions this cycle with a $1,000 check.
Other donations included $2,500 apiece from the New York Building Congress, building materials company CRH Americas and NextEra Energy, the parent company of Florida Power & Light.
Díaz-Balart spent nearly $437,000 in Q3. A sizable chunk of it covered food.
He paid $75,500 to Rose Strategies, a Generation Z-led political consulting firm. Of that payment, $60,000 covered reimbursements for campaign meeting food, $13,700 paid for fundraising consulting, and $2,000 reimbursed travel and lodging expenses.
Díaz-Balart also spent $3,400 on one meal at Ristorante Tosca and $2,300 for five meals at the Capitol Hill Club in Washington, D.C., and $1,900 for two meals at Bel Mare in Key West.
Other expenditures included $12,000 paid to Fast Forward Solutions in Miami for administrative consulting, $4,800 to Miami-based SoBe Promos for fundraising supplies and $4,500 to Coral Gables-based Enlace for digital advertising and social media work.
The rest of Díaz-Balart’s spending covered marketing email services and general campaign costs, including donation-processing fees, website payments, wireless service and equipment, and storage.
His one opponent so far this cycle, Ian Medina, is a fellow Republican who last year mounted a short challenge against U.S. Rep. María Elvira Salazar in Florida’s 27th Congressional District.
Medina filed in January to run for CD 26, which spreads horizontally across southern Florida from Naples in Collier County to Hialeah in Miami-Dade County, but has yet to file a campaign finance report.
In June 2022, he was arrested for practicing law without a license. He argued he was wrongly denied one under the Americans with Disabilities Act because he suffers from schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.
Candidates faced a July 15 deadline to report all campaign finance activity through Sept. 30.
