Jacob Ogles
Heading into a Democratic Primary, former Kissimmee Mayor Jose Alvarez holds a substantial fundraising edge.
Four Democrats filed to succeed Rep. Kristen Arrington, a Kissimmee Democrat, to represent House District 46. Arrington is running for Senate this cycle.
Alvarez, a longtime Osceola County Realtor, has maintained a strong cash advantage. He has raised more than $52,000 through July 26 for the race, and also threw in more than $35,000 in candidate loans.
He’s also rallying endorsements from influential groups like the Central Florida Hotel and Lodging Association and Florida Realtors PAC. The latter in June resulted in three $1,000 donations connected to professional Realtor advocacy committees in June.
He also recently accepted donations from political committees including Florida ACRE and Businessforce, along with businesses like the Florida Family Insurance Company. He earlier this year collected $1,000 donations from Universal City Development Partners, the corporate entity for Universal Studios’ Florida theme parks, and from a political committee association with the Florida Professional Firefighters union.
Alvarez through late July spent more than $86,000 campaigning. He notably established a Friends of Jose Alvarez committee last year but raised no money to date.
The only other Democratic raising much in outside contributions has been Jacqueline Centeno, an Osceola County educator. Through the last reporting period, she reported more than $5,800 in contributions, with another $600 put in out of pocket.
But another competitor has put quite a bit of money into the race out-of-pocket. Veteran Robert LeWayne Johnson, an advocate for the homeless, has raised less than $500 but put more than $27,000 in loans behind his candidacy.
He spent more than $21,000 on the race through the late July reporting period.
The only other candidate, one with the same last name as the Kissimmee Mayor, raised and spent little. Vanessa Alvarez reported $545 in total fundraising. She did put another $1,550 loan in coffers but through the last reporting period had only spent roughly $330.
The district leans Democratic; Arrington won re-election in 22 with 58% of the vote to Republican Christian de la Torre’s 39% even as Republicans over-performed statewide that cycle.
But two Republicans have filed for the seat. That includes de la Torre, who through July 26 raised almost $4,900 for his new run. He already spent nearly $4,000 of that in anticipation of the Aug. 20 Republican Primary.
His Primary opponent, Michael Cruz, has raised more than $1,200 and spent most of it.
The only candidate guaranteed a spot on the November ballot, no-party candidate Ivan Rivera, has largely financed his campaign with a $3,000 loan.
