Jesse Scheckner
Former state Sen. Annette Taddeo’s campaign for Miami-Dade County Clerk and Comptroller had a healthy early round of fundraising, according to a report from the campaign.
Between Feb. 5, when she entered the race, and the end of the first-quarter reporting period on March 31, Taddeo campaign says she amassed more than $105,000.
That’s $15,000 per week for seven weeks.
Official Q1 campaign finance reports for state and local candidates are due Wednesday.
In a statement, Taddeo said the monetary support is “both humbling and heartening.”
“I want to say thank you to each and every person who has been part of our team,” she said. “Together, we’re building a campaign focused on transparency and putting our residents above special interests and political agendas.”
Taddeo, who told Florida Politics in August that she was considering a run, is the only Democrat now running for Clerk.
On the Republican side, incumbent Clerk Juan Fernandez-Barquin faces a Primary challenge from Rubin Young, an ambitious political aspirant who previously mounted bids for Congress and Broward County Clerk, Supervisor of Elections and Commissioner.
Young ran for those last three posts simultaneously in 2015 despite living in Miami-Dade.
Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed Fernandez-Barquin, a former state Representative, a Clerk in June. He replaced Clerk’s Office General Counsel Luis Montaldo, who took over as Clerk after the death of Harvey Ruvin, the county’s longtime Clerk and one of the most well-regarded local politicians in Miami-Dade history.
Taddeo, meanwhile, has been in something of a political limbo since her unsuccessful challenge against Republican U.S. Rep. María Elvira Salazar in November 2022. She made history in a 2017 Special Election as the first Latina Democrat to win a seat in the Florida Senate. A year later, she won re-election to a four-year term.
Fernandez-Barquin raised $110,000 to defend his post since taking over the Clerk’s Office last year.
Young’s campaign reported raising $50,000 in Q1, all self-given, and almost $1,000 worth of in-kind contributions of which only $200 came from an outside source.
The Primary Election is Aug. 20, followed by the General Election on Nov. 5.
