Debbie Wasserman Schultz passes $1M fundraising mark in bid for 11th term

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla. testifies on Capitol Hill Friday, Jan. 13, 2006, before the Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing for Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito. (AP Photo/Dennis Cook)

Democratic U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz passed the $1 million mark for fundraising this cycle in her third-quarter report — a milestone it took her five quarters to reach in the previous election cycle.

This time, the Weston Democrat has three Republicans vying to meet her in the General Election in November. But she’s handily beating them all in the money race. Carla Spalding, a U.S. Navy veteran, is Wasserman Schultz’s closest competitor in raising the green to represent Florida’s 25th Congressional District.

But Spalding, mounting her third attempt to unseat the 10-term Congresswoman, is falling behind her fundraising pace set during her 2022 bid. Even though she came closer to her in vote totals in 2022 than her first try, Wasserman Schultz won 55.1% of the vote. Three quarters into the 2022 election cycle, Spalding had raised about $891,000 in her bid, compared to the $332,000 she raised so far this time around.

Their campaign reports illustrate marked differences in their campaigns for cash.

All but $16,000 of the $224,000 Wasserman Schultz raised from individuals was itemized. The bulk of Spalding’s haul, meanwhile, fell below the $200 mark and was not itemized. Nearly $50,000 was itemized in Spalding’s money raised from individuals, while $95,000 was not.

No political party committees or PACs contributed to Spalding’s campaign, whereas Wasserman Schultz raised about $120,000 from PACs.

Spalding raised about $145,000 this quarter. She spent $122,618 and ended the quarter with $42,000 in cash-on-hand and about $70,000 in debt.

Dwarfing Spalding’s take, Wasserman Schultz raised $347,295 this quarter. After spending $261,000, she had $1.1 million to spend on her campaign as of Sept. 30.

Conquering Cancer PAC in Virginia accounted for Wasserman Schultz’s largest donation — $10,000 — from a single entity. It was part of $21,000 in health care donations, which also came from Friends of Community Oncology PAC, Humana and the American Hospital Association.

A grab bag of corporations and industry associations accounted for $42,750 in donations Wasserman Schultz collected. Citrus growers, bankers and tech were represented there.

Unions also kicked in $32,000 in donations this quarter, including machinists, food and commercial workers and plumbers.

Giving the maximum this past quarter were Anthony Arias, a Bal Harbour investor; Christian Daly of Coral Gables, the President of AirMatrix, a platform to protect the computer network of drones from breaches; Dev Motwani of Fort Lauderdale, whose family owns billions in Florida real estate; Betsy Darivoff and her husband, Philip Darivoff, of Short Hills, New Jersey, Chairman of Vibrant Partners LLC; Howard Kessler of Boston, Massachusetts, founder and chairman emeritus of the Kessler Group; and Patricia Kessler of Palm Beach, director of the Kessler Family Foundation.

Notable names that on Wasserman Schultz’s donor list include Howard Greenberg, the former publisher of the Sun-Sentinel, who gave her $1,000; former Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a former U.S. Representative, who gave $500; and the Seminole Tribe of Florida, based in Hollywood, which gave $3,300.

Reports show that Wasserman Schultz’s campaign wrote its biggest check — $75,000 — to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. She also sent $5,000 to both the Florida Democratic Party and the Broward Democratic Party. Consulting costs accounted for the next-biggest expense her campaign paid.

BTS Strategies in Pinecrest received $15,000 from her campaign for campaign management consulting. And nearly $4,000 went to Martinez Consulting Group for the same.

More than $11,000 went to The Frost Group in Washington for fundraising consultation and the Fink Group in Aventura provided campaign field organizing for $15,000.

The remaining competitors’ report showed them trailing significantly.

Retired Brigadier General Christopher Eddy raised nearly $23,000 from donors and loaned his campaign another $20,000, adding to an existing $10,000 loan.

Rubin Young reported $8,613 raised and $7,800 spent. That left him with $880 in cash-on-hand for his campaign.

The campaigns were facing a deadline to report all financial transactions earlier this month.

The district covers the southern swath of Broward County and parts of Miami-Dade County and leans heavily Democratic.