Bowen Kou, Keith Truenow burn through $1.2M each in pursuit of SD 13 nomination

Keith Truenow, Bowen Kou.

Both Bowen Kou and Keith Truenow burned through more than $1 million seeking an open Senate seat. Within days, one will emerge as the Senate District 13 Republican nominee.

Kou’s campaign account through Aug. 15 spent the most on the race directly, chugging through almost $1.2 million since he entered the race in March 2023. But a substantial amount of that came from out of pocket. The grocery chain owner donated $1.2 million directly to his campaign. In July, about $85,000 of that was refunded.

He collected more than $261,000 in outside contributions, including from many business associates from the Chinese American community across the country. That provided fodder for attack ads, prompting a defamation lawsuit and accusations of racism from Kou against the Florida Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee (FRSCC).

The bulk of his money ultimately went to Texas-based Majority Strategies on mailers, digital media and media production and placements.

Truenow, a Representative seeking a promotion to the upper chamber, through his official campaign account spent about $421,000. All of that was powered from contributions to his campaign. He started the race with nearly $20,000 from his prior House campaign account.

The incumbent saw significant support from statewide lobbying groups. The Lake Jem Farms founder saw agricultural support from Florida Citrus Mutual and other groups, and also from political committees controlled by other lawmakers.

Truenow also controls a committee himself. Growing Florida’s Leadership over the course of the election cycle raised more than $894,000. The committee spent $769,000 on the race.

This included sending $250,000 to the FRSCC, which endorsed Truenow in May.

The committee also covered $233,000 in bills with SimWins services including consulting, research and media advertising. That was on top of some $333,000 spent by the campaign with the Tampa-based political firm.

Kou also founded the Restore American Dreams Committee in April 2023. It spent around $55,000 supplementing the official campaign’s efforts. Nearly $42,000 of the spending went to Majority Strategies.

Ultimately, Truenow’s combined spending between the committee and his official campaign was $1.19 million. Kou’s combined spending landed at about $1.23 million.

Umatilla Republican C.J. Blancett will also appear on the ballot. She spent more than $4,600 over the course of the campaign through May, but has failed to file reports since that point.