María Elvira Salazar laps Dem challengers in Q2 with $600K raised for CD 27 defense

Republican U.S. Rep. María Elvira Salazar stacked $610,000 in the second quarter of 2024, more than twice the combined gains of every other candidate in the race, including two well-funded Democrats competing for their party’s nomination.

Since comfortably winning re-election in November 2022, Salazar has amassed $2.5 million to defend her seat representing Florida’s 27th Congressional District, not counting carry-over funds from prior campaigns.

She had $1.7 million remaining at the end of June after spending about $964,000 last quarter. She also had about $41,300 in debt for outstanding payments for legal, fundraising and compliance consulting fees.

Hundreds of donors gave to Salazar in Q2, most of them people, not corporations or political organizations.

She received personal checks totaling $6,600 — the maximum allowable under federal law, representing $3,300 apiece for the Primary and General Elections, which are considered separate races — from several noteworthy figures.

Among them: Miami Beach billionaire hedge fund manager Daniel Och, Dallas billionaire investment analyst Ken Fisher, Hobe Sound billionaire businessman John Malone, Standard Industries co-CEO David Millstone of Aspen, Jupiter real estate investor and author Justin Daniels, and Las Vegas billionaire real estate developer and ex-casino magnate Steve Wynn, who resigned as Finance Chair of the Republican National Committee in 2018 amid sexual misconduct allegations.

Wynn’s wife, Andrea; Fisher’s wife, Sherrilyn; Malone’s wife, Leslie; and Millstone’s wife, Jennifer all gave $6,600 too.

So did Meg Weinberger, an animal rescue nonprofit executive and Chair of the Palm Beach chapter of Moms for Liberty who is one of five Republicans running for the soon-to-be-open Florida House District 94 seat.

Weinberger has been racking up endorsements from Donald Trump-aligned figures, including the former President, U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, ex news anchor Kari Lake and retired Army Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn — but not Salazar, yet.

Salazar also received $10,000 from U.S. Sen. Rick Scott’s leadership PAC, Let’s Get to Work, $5,000 apiece from PACs associated with U.S. Reps. Lisa McClain of Michigan and Bryan Steil of Wisconsin, and $3,300 from the PACs of U.S. Reps. Mark Molinaro of New York and William Timmons of South Carolina.

Fellow Florida U.S. Reps. Mike Waltz and Brian Mast gave $4,000 and $2,000, respectively.

Salazar’s largest infusion, totaling $195,000, came through a joint fundraising committee she’s associated with called Salazar Victory Committee.

She also got $66,000 from Grow the Majority, which Speaker Mike Johnson created in November 2023; $15,000 from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which also bundled thousands of personal donations for her; and close to $5,000 from SunPAC, which also advocates for Israel in Washington.

Corporate contributions Salazar accepted last quarter included $5,000 from Comcast Corp., which has donated $10,000 to her this cycle; $1,000 from Florida Power and Light parent company NextEra Energy, which has given her $3,000 altogether; and $1,500 from Pfizer.

As is the case with most heavily funded campaigns, the preponderance of Salazar’s spending covered compliance services, including those for political strategy, compliance, fundraising, translation, finance and field campaigning.

She gave $15,000 to the Republican Party of Florida. The rest of her spending went to travel, lodging, food, web subscriptions, campaign signage and apparel, phone and internet services, event supplies, shipping and a $10,440 ballot access fee from the Florida Division of Elections.

Key Biscayne Mayor Mike Davey led fundraising on the Democratic side with $214,000 raised between April 1 and June 30. Last quarter was Davey’s first full period of fundraising. He filed to run in February.

Since then, he’s added $528,000 to his campaign coffers. That included $200,000 in self-loans, half of which came last quarter.

He had $298,000 left going into July.

Davey received mostly personal donations in Q2. His biggest was a $5,000 check from John Devaney, CEO of Key Biscayne-based institutional broker dealer United Capital Markets.

Edward Easton, Chair of the Doral-based wealth management firm The Easton Group, gave $2,000. Morgan Stanley Chief Legal and Administrative Officer Eric Grossman gave the same.

He also received $1,000 from Olivia Serafini-Sauli, a filmmaker whose directorial feature debut, “Endless Calls for Fame,” chronicles New York City’s 1990s indie and punk music scene.

U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell, who endorsed Davey in June, gave $1,000 too. Pinecrest Council member Anna Hochkammer gave $250.

Davey also accepted $5,000 from the Communications Workers of America union and $1,000 from the International Association of Bridge, Structural, Ornamental and Reinforcing Iron Workers.

Much of his spending covered consulting fees. He also paid more than $32,000 to Alabama-based ALG Polling for survey services, $22,000 to Campaign Manager Chris Wills, $12,000 for voter fill access and event sponsorship costs with the Florida Democratic Party and close to $8,000 for an event venue fee at the 94th Aero Squadron Restaurant in Miami.

Other expenses included a $3,000 South Florida AFL-CIO event sponsorship fee and $2,400 for lodging at the Walt Disney World Contemporary Resort.

The rest covered donation-processing fees, supplies, travel, web services, printing, fundraising services, campaign merchandise, video production, political consulting, field organizing, communication services, treasury and compliance services, and the Division of Elections’ $10,440 fee.

Miami-Dade County School Board member Lucia-Báez-Geller, who is competing with Davey in the Democratic Primary, added $82,000 to her war chest in Q2.

She’s raised $323,000 since filing in November. Active spending since, including $116,000 last quarter, left her with $104,000 by July.

Many of Báez-Geller’s April-June contributions were for less than $1,000. All but one came by personal check or credit.

That included $6,600 apiece from Doral-based Badia Spices CEO Joseph “Pepe” Badia and Mike Newman, who heads up Coral Gables-based indie mobile games company Big Duck Games.

Former Miami-Dade Commissioner Katy Sorenson, who ran the University of Miami-based Good Government Initiative for more than a decade until its closure this year, gave $500, doubling a prior contribution.

North Miami Council member Scott Galvin chipped in $300.

Báez-Geller also took $5,000 from CHC Bold PAC, the political arm of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.

More than 40% of her spending last quarter ($50,000) covered campaign staff pay. She also spent $10,440 on the Division of Elections fee, $7,500 on compliance and digital fundraising consulting from Homestead Democratic state Rep. Kevin Chambliss, $2,000 on refunded contributions from a prior donor from Hialeah and $250 for a Florida AFL-CIO event ticket.

The rest went to postage, text messaging services, software rentals and graphic design.

Two other Republicans are running, though neither has done much so far. One is Wells Fargo personal banker Royland Lara, who has yet to report any campaign finance activity. The other is Frank Polo, a repeat congressional candidate who has referred to Salazar as a “RINO” (Republican in name only) on social media.

FEC records show Polo has added less than $1,000 to his campaign account since he filed to again run against Salazar in February.

CD 27 covers a large portion of Miami-Dade County, including the municipalities of Miami, Coral Gables, Cutler Bay, Key Biscayne, Palmetto Bay, Pinecrest, North Bay Village, South Miami, West Miami and the unincorporated neighborhoods of Coral Terrace, Fisher Island, Glenvar Heights, Kendall, Olympia Heights, Richmond Heights, Sunset, The Crossings, Three Lakes, Westchester and Westwood Lakes.

Analyses of CD 27, as redrawn by the Gov. Ron DeSantis administration, show it is now safer than before for Republicans but still the most closely divided congressional district in Florida.

It’s also 74% Hispanic, the highest percentage for the voting age population anywhere in the state.

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

Candidates faced a Monday deadline to report all campaign finance activity through June 30.