Daryl Parks campaign reports $525K raised for SD 3 bid

Image via Daryl Parks campaign

In just two months, civil rights lawyer Daryl Parks amassed more than $525,000 toward his bid to represent a coastal portion of the Panhandle in Senate District 3, his campaign reported.

Between April 1 and May 31, Parks received more than 1,300 donations — a 60-day haul that was, his campaign said, “more than any Democratic State Senate candidate in modern history” has achieved.

The funds came into Parks’ campaign account and political committee, North Florida Families PAC.

Official fundraising numbers for the April-May span are due Monday. Parks’ campaign said that nearly 70% of the contributions he got were grassroots donations of less than $200 apiece.

“I am truly amazed and honored by the level of support that my campaign has received in just two months,” he said in a statement.

“The Republican leaders running the Capitol have spent all their time serving political insiders with an agenda focused on abortion bans, book bans, and price gouging, instead of serving the people who elected them. It’s empowering to see our community rally around this campaign in such a major way, and we can’t wait to take this momentum to the ballot box in November.”

Parks filed on April 2 to run for SD 3, which spans Dixie, Gadsden, Gulf, Hamilton, Jefferson, Lafayette, Leon, Liberty, Madison, Suwannee, Taylor and Wakulla counties.

He faces one Primary opponent: Kimblin NeSmith, a Gadsden County Commissioner who filed for the chance to challenge Republican Sen. Corey Simon on June 2, 2023. Through May 31, NeSmith’s campaign raised more than $28,000 of which it spent nearly everything.

A third Democratic candidate, Sheria Griffin, suspended her campaign on April 4.

Parks and NeSmith hope to tackle Simon, a former NFL and Florida State University football player who in 2022 supplanted then-Democratic Sen. Loranne Ausley with 53% of the vote to flip the SD 3 seat red.

As of March 31, Simon held nearly $877,000 in campaign cash.

While Simon holds a marked funding advantage, the winner of the Democratic Primary will have a larger voter base from which to draw. The Division of Elections’ most recent tally of district voters shows Democrats with a more than 25,000-voter advantage.

The Primary Election is on Aug. 20, followed by the General Election on Nov. 5.