Jesse Scheckner
Democratic U.S. Rep. Lois Frankel raised $264,000 last quarter to keep her seat in Florida’s 22nd Congressional District, tapping a variety of corporate, political and private donors while spending little compared to her GOP challengers.
She received hundreds of personal donations bundled by pro-Israel group AIPAC of between $200 and $6,600, the maximum allowable by law, representing $3,300 apiece for the Primary and General Elections.
As of June 30, she had $1.5 million left.
On the other side of the aisle, Republicans Dan Franzese, Andrew Guttman and Deborah Adeimy are competing for the party nomination with varying levels of outside monetary support.
Frankel received personal checks from several noteworthy people, including maxed-out contributions from Ron Zeff, CEO of San Francisco-based residential real estate investment and development firm Carmel Partners; Scott Copeland, principal at Virginia-based builder RST Development; and his wife, Jilian Copeland, the founder and Executive Director of the nonprofit Main Street Connect, an affordable living and community center.
David Ertel, Chair and CEO of Miami-based residential mortgage lender Bayview Financial Holdings, gave $5,600. John Ceriale, President of Palm Beach-based Prospect Hotel Advisors, and his wife, Melissa, both gave $3,300. They gave the same sum earlier this cycle, too.
Frankel also received a $300 contribution from Paulette Cooper Noble, a Holocaust survivor, journalist and author whose writing on the Church of Scientology in the 1970s and afterward attracted harassment from its members.
Several political figures chipped in as well. U.S. Rep. Brad Sherman of California gave $1,000 through his political action committee. So did former Illinois Congresswoman Cheri Bustos.
Florida Supreme Court Justice Barbara Pariente, who was appointed by Florida’s last Democratic Governor, Lawton Chiles, gave $500 last quarter and $1,000 this cycle.
Carol Schwartz, a Republican-turned-independent former member of the Council of the District of Columbia, gave $500 as well.
Several sugar companies helped refill Frankel’s coffers. She received $5,000 from American Crystals Sugar Co., $4,000 from a PAC representing employees of U.S. Sugar Corp., $1,500 from Amalgamated Sugar Companies and $1,000 apiece from the Florida Sugar Cane League and Western Sugar Cooperative.
Unions turned up too. The Allied Pilots Association gave $5,000. So did the Sheet Metal Worker International Association, doubling an earlier donation. Other union contributions included $4,000 from the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, $2,500 from the International Union of Operating Engineers, $2,500 from the Laborers International Union of North America and $1,000 from the National Air Traffic Controllers Association.
She also accepted $3,500 from Walmart and $2,500 each from Dell Technologies, aircraft maintenance company AAR Corp., rail company BNSF Railway, insurer AFLAC, and Ohio-based health care services company Cardinal Health.
Frankel spent $123,000 between April 1 and June 30, the second-least of all four CD 22 candidates. That included about $35,000 on fundraising consulting, $12,000 on digital advertising and $7,500 on texting. She also paid close to $5,000 to the IRS, denoting the payment for “federal income tax.”
Her campaign gave $5,000 to the Democratic Party of Palm Beach, close to $4,000 to the Kings Point Democratic Club in Margate and $1,600 to the Women’s Foundation of Florida.
The rest covered travel, lodging, food, phone service, accounting services, software, postage, donation-processing fees, merchant fees, staff payroll and payroll taxes, a New York Times subscription, several three-figure event sponsorship fees and a $350 membership dues payment to the National Democratic Club.
Franzese, an investment manager and former congressional aide, is hoping to avoid a repeat of the 2022 election, when Frankel defeated him with 55% of the vote.
He outpaced Frankel in fundraising in the first quarter of 2024 due to a six-figure self-loan. Last quarter, he maintained the same financial strategy.
His campaign reported raising $235,000 in Q2, inclusive of more than $200,000 from his personal bank account. Altogether, federal records show he’s loaned his campaign $1.8 million this cycle.
Last quarter, he received a $225 contribution from the Republican Assembly of Palm Beach County, which endorsed him in November.
The rest of his outside gains came through personal checks of between $100 and $3,300.
Of the $230,000 he spent between April and July 1, more than half covered campaign advertising and consulting costs.
He paid $20,000 to Atlanta-based Cumulus Media Inc. for fundraising and digital media services, $13,000 to West Palm Beach-based MDH Printing for postcards and mailers, $12,000 to Minuteman Press of West Palm for stickers and postcards, and $6,500 to California-based Target Enterprises for radio ads.
West Palm Beach-based DM Printing got $6,000 for campaign signs, while New York-based Kizoz & Co. and Facebook received $5,500 and $2,000, respectively, for digital ads.
The biggest recipient of cash from Franzese’s campaign last quarter was West Palm Beach consultant James Menges, who helped the candidate with political strategizing.
Franzese also paid $11,000 to West Palm-based Bulldog Strategy & Media for fundraising and communications consulting, $5,000 to Ocean West Property Management for campaign consulting and field direction, $4,300 to Palm Beach-based FEC InFusion for reporting and compliance consulting, and $2,000 to Delaware-based Total Auxiliary Group for fundraising and email marketing consulting.
The rest covered general campaign upkeep, travel, bank and donation-processing fees and a South Florida Sun-Sentinel subscription.
Gutmann, a self-described “anti-woke education activist” who drew national headlines two years ago for decrying race-based “indoctrination” at his daughter’s private school, added $139,000 to his campaign account last quarter.
He also spent $291,000, leaving himself with $307,000 by July 1. Altogether, he raised $726,000 this election cycle, inclusive of $117,000 in self-loans.
Gutmann, an investment banker and career coach-turned-podcaster and author, received $1,000 from the Florida Freedom Coalition, a political committee run by Kacci Diehl, community coordinator for Ponte Vedra Beach-based real estate and asset management company Terra Innovations.
He also got $750 from the Republican Liberty Caucus of Palm Beach County.
The rest of his gains in Q2 came from people, several of them notable. Billionaire Charles Schwab, Chair of Charles Schwab Corp., and his wife, Helen, gave $3,300 each. The couple gave the same to Franzese last quarter, which indicates their main objective is to oust Frankel.
Other $3,300 checks came from Ocean Ridge resident Randall Smalley, the CEO of RV company Cruise America; Lewis Stahl, a Boca Raton-based health care tech and real estate executive who served time in federal prison for tax evasion; and Thomas Smith, also of Boca, who founded the real estate investment firm Prescott Investors.
The preponderance of Gutmann’s spending ($237,000) went to Tallahassee-based Front Line Strategies for a variety of services, including TV and digital ads, direct mailers, polling and research, and strategy consulting.
He also paid $13,000 to Jupiter-based ANE Strategies for fundraising consulting and $5,000 to Edward Miyagishima of Bradenton for policy consulting.
The rest covered travel, merchant fees, accounting and compliance services, event expenses and postal services.
Adeimy — a former high-ranking JPMorgan executive who also sought the CD 22 seat in 2022, losing the Primary to Franzese by just 130 votes — raised $34,000 last quarter. She also spent $75,000, leaving herself $53,500 going into July.
All but one donation came by personal check: a $1,000 contribution from the Palm Beach County Police Benevolent Association, which Adeimy later refunded.
She received $3,300 from Paul Jerkovich, CFO of New Jersey-based real estate business The Mack Company. Rich Tomeu, President of West Palm Beach hauling company Siboney Co., gave $2,000.
Adeimy also included $5,000 worth of purchases she made last quarter as in-kind donations to her campaign. Florida Politics subtracted that figure from her reported fundraising to reach the $34,000 total above.
Nearly half of her spending last quarter ($39,000) covered printing and copying services from Miami-based Orion Press.
She also paid $5,200 to sponsor a Republican Party of Palm Beach County event and $3,000 on Facebook ads. The rest covered lodging, office supplies, meeting expenses, web fees, meals, general campaign upkeep and a membership fee with the Washington, D.C.-based Common Sense Society.
All four candidates paid a $10,440 qualifying fee with the Florida Division of Elections.
Others previously running in CD 22 didn’t make the cut.
Delray Beach Democratic lawyer Dean Halper filed to run in December but never submitted a campaign finance report. The Federal Election Commission website still lists him as active. The Florida Division of Elections doesn’t.
Two other Republicans — Air Force veteran D.B. Fugate and Paula Branda, who ran for the Lake Worth Beach Council in 2021 — are no longer in the race.
CD 22 spans a large portion of Palm Beach County, stretching from the Everglades to the coast and encompassing 22 municipalities, including Atlantis, parts of Boca Raton, Boynton Beach, Briny Breezes, Cloud Lake, Delray Beach, Glen Ridge, Greenacres, Gulf Stream, Hypoluxo, Lake Worth Beach, Lake Worth, Lantana, Manalapan, Ocean Ridge, Palm Beach, Palm Springs, Royal Palm Beach, South Palm Beach, Village of Golf, Wellington and West Palm Beach.
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.
