Rodney Jacobs smashes personal fundraising record for SD 35 bid

Image via Rodney Jacobs Jr.

Miramar Democrat Rodney Jacobs just turned in his strongest round of fundraising yet.

Between April 1 and May 31, Jacobs stacked nearly $80,000 between his campaign account and political committee, A New Hope For Tomorrow.

Combined with prior fundraising, the two-month haul brings Jacobs total gains since entering the race to succeed term-limited Democratic Sen. Lauren Book to almost $166,000.

Of that, he had about $82,000 remaining by June 1.

His prior fundraising record was $49,000 collected between mid-August and Sept. 30.

“I’m beyond excited to have just posted my largest quarter to date,” Jacobs said in a statement.

“I cannot thank my supporters enough. Their enthusiasm for my campaign matches what I’m feeling at the doors and in my community: a growing support and enthusiasm for my campaign and the style of leadership I will bring to the Senate.”

Jacobs works full-time as Executive Director of Miami’s Civilian Investigative Panel (CIP), which reviews complaints against city police officers. He joined the organization in 2017.

New laws the GOP-controlled Legislature passed this year will significantly weaken what the CIP and panels like it can do and place them under the control of the county Sheriffs and municipal Police Chiefs that they sometimes scrutinize.

Jacobs, an adjunct professor and former military intelligence officer for the United States Army Reserve, called the change “unfortunate” and the result of a “misconception about officers being critiqued.”

“We simply do our investigation. We don’t have the power to discipline police officers,” he told the Sarasota Herald-Tribune in late April. “I understand the police officers’ sentiments. In some other agencies, it happens. Agencies can get co-opted by bad actors and it can be vicious … but just because there may be a few bad actors in one part of Florida, that doesn’t mean that the whole state should be punished.”

Jacobs’ biggest donation was $51,000 from Florida Justice PAC, a Tallahassee-based political committee chaired by Tiffany Faddis, a personal injury trial lawyer working in the Orlando area who serves as Director-at-Large for the Florida Justice Association. Florida Justice PAC’s Treasurer, Stephen Cain, is President of the Florida Justice Association.

Jacobs also received $5,000 from Building a Better Florida PC, which Michael Corcoran chairs; $1,000 apiece from the North, Central and South Florida Citizens for Justice political committees and more than 100 personal checks, most for three figures or less.

Jacobs is set to face two Democratic opponents: Chad Klitzman, a lawyer and screenwriter who previously ran for Broward County Supervisor of Elections; and former Broward Mayor Barbara Sharief, who competed in a pricy 2022 Primary against Book.

The winner of the Democratic Primary this year will face Vinny Parlatore, a former Broward Sheriff’s Deputy, who is the sole Republican running and the only candidate so far to qualify for this year’s election.

The qualifying deadline is noon Friday.

Through May 31, Parlatore reported raising $525. Klitzman and Sharief have not yet reported their April-May gains. Through March 31, Klitzman raised about $292,000, including $100,000 in refundable self-loans. Sharief, meanwhile, collected close to $240,000 in the first quarter of 2024. Of that, $184,000 came from her bank account.

Official campaign finance reports are due by end-of-day Monday.

SD 35 spans a large area of Broward stretching westward into Alligator Alley, including Cooper City, Miramar, Pembroke Pines, Southwest Ranches and parts of Davie and Hollywood.

The district leans heavily Democratic, with 43% of all registered voters there belonging to the Democratic Party compared to 32% who belong to no party, 23% who are Republican and 1% who are part of the Independent Party.

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