Jacob Ogles
Democrat Derek Reich has raised more than $179,000 to challenge Republican Rep. Fiona McFarland in House District 73. That rivals McFarland’s nearly $205,000 in donations to her account, and makes him the fourth-best fundraiser among Democrats challenging Republican incumbents in the state House.
But while his campaign donations may rival those of the Republican incumbent, a political committee controlled by McFarland still sits on a massive pile of cash.
That’s according to fundraising reports through Sept. 6. Reich saw a surge in funding in the last reporting period, collecting more than $25,000 in a one-week span. It helped close a gap with McFarland, who raised the bulk of her funding last year and in the first six months of this year.
But the Democrat has also spent more, including $2,300 on a Change Research poll last month (one reportedly circulating among Sarasota’s wealthy donor class), and thousands more on staffing for his campaign.
He closed the last period with almost $101,000 in cash on hand to McFarland’s nearly $182,000.
But McFarland has largely sat on her gunpowder, recently spending nearly $4,200 on yard signs but largely keeping expenses minimal. Of note, McFarland also just had her fourth child last week, and had limited campaign activity over the preceding month.
The campaign war chests only show a fraction of McFarland’s cash advantage. Her Friends of Sarasota committee, in operation since her first run for House in 2020, has about $410,000 available in cash on hand. Reich’s Freedom First Fund, by comparison, has about $8,000 in the bank.
The election this year marks a rematch between McFarland and Reich. The incumbent in 2022 won 56% of the vote to the Democrat’s 44%. That happened as Republicans statewide overperformed, and Sarasota Democrats hope McFarland will be vulnerable in a more competitive election cycle.
In 2020, voters in the district effectively split on the Presidential Election with 49.7% supporting Donald Trump and 49.3% backing Joe Biden.
But the state has trended more Republican in recent years. As of book closing for the August Primary, HD 73 was home to almost 60,000 registered Republicans compared to 39,000 Democrats and more than 30,000 voters with no party affiliation.
