Jesse Scheckner
Democratic U.S. Rep. Jared Moskowitz has now raised $1.5 million this election cycle to defend his seat representing Florida’s 23rd Congressional District.
That’s more than the combined gains of six Republicans — Gary Barve, Joe Kaufman, Carla Spalding, Darlene Swaffar, Joe Thelusca and Robert Weinroth — competing for the right to face him in November.
Last quarter, Moskowitz added $380,000 to his re-election war chest, including hundreds of personal contributions given directly and through Israel-supporting AIPAC and the Democratic fundraising platform ActBlue.
Roughly a third came from Florida donors, including a $1,000 check from Florida Senate Democratic Leader-designate Jason Pizzo of Hollywood.
Several unions and trade groups chipped in as well. Moskowitz received $5,000 from the United Association, which represents plumbers and pipefitters, and the same sum from the Council of Insurance Agents and Brokers, which has given him $10,000 altogether this cycle.
He also received $3,000 from the National Association of Realtors, and $2,500 apiece from the Air Line Pilots Association and American Association for Justice, an advocacy organization for trial lawyers that has given him $7,500 since he won federal office two years ago.
Moskowitz spent $220,000 in the second quarter, much of it on consulting. That included $32,000 to Maryland-based Liftoff Campaigns for strategic consulting, $14,000 to the North Palm Beach-headquartered National Campaign Resource Group and close to $18,000 to the Washington, D.C.-based Frost Group for fundraising consulting and reimbursements for an event, travel and shipping.
He also donated $5,500 to the Broward Democratic Party, $1,000 to the Jewish Federation of Broward County, and divided about $2,000 between the Coral Springs Fraternal Order of Police, Dolphin Democrats, Las Olas Chabad Jewish center and the Coral Springs Parkland Democratic Club.
The rest covered donation-processing fees, bank fees, travel, lodging, event costs, food, supplies, campaign staff pay, printing, postage, software, a $15,000 repayment Moskowitz made for a self-loan and $6,000 in refunded donations.
He also paid the Florida Division of Elections a $10,440 qualifying fee. So did every other candidate but Kaufman, Federal Election Commission records show.
Moskowitz headed into July with $775,000 in his campaign account, including $166,000 in refundable self-loans.
Weinroth, a former Palm Beach County Mayor, added $125,000 in Q2, including a $50,000 self-loan and more than 86 outside contributions, 92% of which came from Florida donors.
He also spent $136,500. More than half went to one consulting company, Boynton Beach-based Alliance Strategic Group, which provided political, digital media, web, graphic design and voter data services.
He paid $14,000 to the North Carolina-based Neighborhood Research Corp. for survey services, $5,000 to the Clearwater-based Whitson Group for campaign management and $4,000 to Boca Raton-based Jolt Media for digital ads.
The rest covered other consulting and ad services, food, credit card-processing fees, software, bank fees, travel, event costs, printing, postage, legal services, phone service, web fees and various campaign paraphernalia.
He ended June with $161,000 left in the bank and $162,000 worth of debt, representing $150,000 in self-loans and $12,000 in outstanding payments.
Spalding, a U.S. Navy veteran who lost to Democratic U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz in 2022 by 10 percentage points, placed second last quarter in fundraising with $120,000 collected between April 1 and June 30.
But with $666,000 raised since she filed to run again last February, she leads the GOP field in total gains this cycle.
Last quarter, Spalding received hundreds of donations. Most were for less than $1,000. None came from corporate or political groups. Fourteen percent of her donors listed Florida addresses.
She also spent $106,000. Close to half of that went to two Virginia companies — MDI Imaging & Mail and Integram — for campaign mailers.
She also paid her daughter, Valentina Spalding Wales, $12,000 for management consulting, and $5,000 to Tampa-based AM Strategies for campaign consulting.
The rest covered rent, fundraising expenses, an Apple.com subscription, administrative services, database services, postage, bank fees, web fees, travel, accounting, legal fees and a $70 donation refund.
Kaufman, a counterterrorism expert and nonprofit executive who filed to run in February, added $67,000 to his coffers in his first full quarter of campaigning. That included a $25,000 self-loan and dozens of contributions, 40% of which were from Florida and none of which were from corporate or political organizations.
He spent $15,000 on events, campaign apparel, printing, phone costs, postage and software.
By July 1, he had $86,000 remaining and about $90,000 worth of debt, $50,000 of which was for self-loans. The remainder was for outstanding payments, which his campaign listed as loans.
Swaffar, an insurance executive who has run for Congress every cycle since 2020, raised $63,000 last quarter through more than 100 donations, 35% of which came from Florida, and a $5,000 self-loan.
She received nothing from corporate or political organizations.
She also spent $51,000 on the qualifying fee, campaign apparel, advertising, food, events, accounting, campaign materials, printing, software, text services, emails, donation-processing fees, $110 in donation refunds and payments to Ingrid Ford of Lauderhill, her Campaign Manager.
Thelusca, a Royal Palm Beach pastor who entered the race in August, raised close to $41,500 in Q2. Most of it, $35,000, came from his bank account. The rest came from Florida residents in sums of $200 to $1,000.
He spent $28,000 on the qualifying fee, campaign signs and clothing, donation-processing fees, canvassing, consulting, database services, phone service, compliance services and sponsorship for an event by the Christian Family Coalition.
Thelusca ended Q2 with $15,000 left of $71,000 raised, which includes $55,000 in self-loans.
Barve, a former Liberty University student and past candidate for the Santa Clara (California) City Council, picked up $16,000 last quarter and spent all but $1,000 of it.
Most of his gains, $12,000, were self-given. He included among his fundraising $1,400 worth of in-kind services he gave himself, including $1,000 for legal counsel and $30 for an event fee with the Broward Young Republicans.
He received two outside contributions: one for $1,560 from a Virginia person with his surname, and $1,000 from a Fort Lauderdale resident.
Barve reported $15,000 in spending, but that too was skewed by the inclusion of his in-kind self-spending. His other expenditures included the qualifying fee, $1,800 on YouTube ads and $530 for political consulting and research from Virginia-based Pinnacle Consulting.
CD 23 straddles Broward and Palm Beach counties from Boca Raton to Fort Lauderdale and leans Democratic. President Joe Biden beat Donald Trump there in 2020 by a 13-point margin, according to elections data analyst Matt Isbell of MCI Maps.
The Primary Election 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.
