FPL, Seminole Tribe give Jason Pizzo a $100K boost as he preps to lead Senate Democrats

TALLAHASSEE, FLA. 2/10/22-Sen. Jason Pizzo, D-North Miami Beach, speaks during session, Thursday at the Capitol in Tallahassee. COLIN HACKLEY PHOTO

As he gears up to lead Senate Democrats in the coming Session, Hollywood’s Jason Pizzo is stacking campaign cash as if he’s taking on a tough Republican challenger.

He isn’t. His opponent, Imtiaz Mohammed, is a perennial candidate who hasn’t raised a cent this cycle and has publicly called America “the most uneducated nation in the world” and a country “run on hate.”

Nevertheless, Pizzo has amassed more than $732,000 since his unanimous election in February 2023 as Senate Democratic Leader-designate.

That includes nearly $130,000 he added to his political committee, New Opportunity Florida, between Aug. 24 and Sept. 13, and more than $4,000 to his campaign account between Aug. 24 and Sept. 6.

Most of the money — $100,000 — came equally from two sources: Florida Power & Light parent company NextEra Energy and the Seminole Tribe of Florida, whose Hard Rock Casino sits in Pizzo’s Senate District 37.

He also received $5,000 apiece from Hollywood title company FirstService Residential Florida and Realtors Political Advocacy Committee, and $2,000 from political committees linked to the South Florida Police Benevolent Association.

With little need to spend on his own campaign, Pizzo is instead using his gains to benefit other state-level candidates through the Florida Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee (FDLCC), which he chairs.

Since last February, he has transferred $100,000 to the Florida Democratic Party and $245,000 to the FDLCC, including $220,000 since late August.

In turn, the FDLCC provided his campaign with $22,000 worth of in-kind aid last period, earmarked for “research.”

The FDLCC this year has spent more than $1.7 million on expenses tied to various legislative campaigns across the state, much of it for ads and mailers. In August, it gave $30,000 to Florida Future Leaders, a student-run political committee working to unseat incumbent Republicans in Senate District 3, House District 37 and House District 91.

The General Election is on Nov. 5.