Jesse Scheckner
The Palm Beach County GOP just made the race for House District 89 financially competitive.
Republican Daniel Zapata, who is again running for HD 89 two years after term-limited Democratic Rep. David Silvers beat him by 5 points, included a $50,000 contribution from the party in his most recent fundraising report.
The donation was nearly triple what Zapata, a private school administrator, had raised since filing to run in March 2023. It also brought him just $1,000 shy of what his Democratic opponent, Debra Tendrich, has raised altogether.
Zapata reported raising $50,125 in the two weeks between Aug. 24 and Sept. 6. That included two personal checks, with one coming from Dan Franzese, the Republican candidate for Florida’s 22nd Congressional District.
Palm Beach GOP Chair Kevin Neal told Florida Politics all of the $50,000 that Zapata got from the organization came from its successful Lincoln Day Dinner in March, when the party raised more than $1.15 million at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club resort.
Zapata reported spending nothing in the period. He’s raised $68,000 this cycle. Of that, he had $55,335 left as of Sept. 6.
Tendrich, a nonprofit executive who handily won her Democratic Primary last month, raised $5,755 from Aug. 24-Sept. 6. That included seven personal checks ranging from $5 to $1,000, a $2,000 donation from the Florida Police Benevolent Association, and $1,000 apiece from the Palm Beach PBA and Floridians for Public Safety PAC.
She also spent just under $800, most of it for campaign communication services by Kissimmee-based political marketing agency Kaplan Strategies.
Since entering the race in July 2023, she’s added $51,325 to her campaign coffers, including a $1,000 self-loan. She had $7,800 left by the end of the period.
Lately a toss-up district, HD 89 covers a large inland portion of Palm Beach County stretching east from Greenacres to Lake Worth Beach, north from Atlantis to Cloud Lake and containing Lake Clarke Shores and Palm Springs.
The General Election is on Nov. 5.
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Editor’s note: This report was updated to include the source of the Palm Beach GOP’s donation to Zapata.
