Jared Moskowitz vastly outpaces Republican field with $120K haul in Q3

Jared Moskowitz

U.S. Rep. Jared Moskowitz’s bid for re-election picked up nearly $120,000 in donations in the third quarter.

South Florida’s freshman Democratic Congressman has stacked up $426,000 so far this election cycle. He’s got one Republican making a repeat appearance in the Republican Primary and three new GOP candidates in the hunt to represent Florida’s 23rd Congressional District.

Moskowitz in 2022 succeeded U.S. Rep. Ted Deutch, a Boca Raton Democrat, to represent the district. CD 23 stretches from Boca Raton to Fort Lauderdale and west to include a chunk of northwest Broward County.

The Parkland Democrat’s third quarter report shows he’s not amassing donations quite as fast as his longer-serving South Florida Democratic colleagues. He is, however, drawing support from unique sources.

The New Democrat Coalition Action Fund, based in Washington, identifies itself as supporting pro-growth Democrats and gave Moskowitz $1,000. Another group called Fair Shot PAC, based in Malden, Massachusetts, and associated with the Bay State’s Democratic U.S. Rep. Katherine Clark, gave Moskowitz $1,000 this quarter.

The amount Moskowitz received from individuals accounts for 47% of his donations, with the balance coming from political committees.

His biggest checks were $5,000 from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee in Washington; the International Association of Sheet Metal Workers, based in Washington: Democrat, Republican, Independent Voter Education, a Washington-based group associated with the Teamsters; Machinists Non-Partisan Political League, based in Maryland; and the Maryland Association for Concerned Citizens. 

Industry associations accounted for about $31,000, with health care interests collectively accounting for $10,000 of that. Sugar interests, both from Michigan (giving $1,500) and Florida (Sugar Cane Growers Cooperative of Florida, giving $500) boosted Moskowitz campaign. Unions accounted for $28,000 of Moskowitz’s donations from committees.

Among the notable names on Moskowitz’s donor list: The Seminole Tribe of Florida, based in Hollywood, donated $3,300; the Poarch Band of Creek Indians, based in Alabama, gave $1,000; Janet Cruz-Rifkin, a former Tampa Bay state Senator who lost her seat in 2022, gave $300; Frederick Lippman, Chancellor of Nova Southeastern University Health Professions Division and a member of the Florida House from 1978 to 1998, donated $300.

When it comes to expenses, the Moskowitz campaign spent nearly $40,000 for consulting, accounting for the largest chunk of spending. Momentum Campaigns in Washington received $14,600 for fundraising consulting. The Frost Group in Washington received $13,800 for the same. Johnson Strategies in Wilton Manors received $6,000 for strategic consulting. GW Strategies in Miami Shores provided $5,000 in fundraising consulting services.

Putnam Partners in Washington supplied $5,000 worth of video production. And payroll expenses, including payroll taxes, came to about $15,000 for the quarter.

Moskowitz’s expenses totaled $109,000, including a $15,000 paid to offset $300,000 in self-loans he made during his 2022 run. He ended the quarter with $178,000 in cash-on-hand.

That puts him far ahead in the money race considering the Republican Primary field.

Steven Chess, a chiropractor and veteran of the Vietnam conflict, won 8% of the vote in the 2022 Republican Primary for the seat. He refiled to run in October and has not yet reported any donations.

Joe Thelusca, a Royal Palm Beach pastor, filed to run Aug. 18 and has so far added $10,000 to his campaign. Most of it — $8,000 — came from a self-loan. With $6,218 in expenses, he ended the third quarter with $4,631 on hand.

Rafael A. Ortiz, a U.S. Army veteran of the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, is also running as a Republican, as is Gary Barve, a former student at Liberty University and former candidate for the Santa Clara (California) City Council. Neither of them reported any expenditures or donations.

The campaigns were facing a deadline earlier this month to report all campaign expenditures and donations.