Jacob Ogles
Democrat Nate Douglas maintains a roughly 2-to-1 cash advantage over Rep. Susan Plasencia as he aims to unseat the Republican.
Douglas has now raised nearly $266,000 this cycle, while the incumbent has pulled in over $150,000. Even after Douglas spent nearly $155,000 painting Plasencia as an extremist enemy of education in a university town, he had nearly $111,000 in his candidate account as of Oct. 4, while Plasencia was down to around $51,000.
Douglas’ political committee, Warriors of Change, has reported another $90,000 in donations, and closed the period with more than $47,000 in the bank. Team Plasencia, by contrast, closed the reporting period with less than $27,000.
The bottom line: Douglas entered the last month of campaigning in House District 37 with more than $158,000 to play with, while the incumbent has just under $78,000 between her committee and candidate accounts.
This comes as House Democrats increasingly see the race as a prime pickup opportunity. Plasencia won the seat representing the University of Central Florida area in 2022, unseating Democratic Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith.
Smith has already won a Senate seat this cycle and will have an office in the Legislature next year, but Plasencia’s spot remains uncertain.
Of note, Plasencia received slightly more party support than Douglas has, if not enough to make up the gap in spending by the campaign.
The Republican Party of Florida has provided about $31,000 worth of staff time and text messaging services in-kind. But the Florida House Republican Campaign Committee has not invested any resources, in-kind or cash, despite providing a major lift to Plasencia when she challenged Smith in 2022.
The Florida Democratic Party has provided more than $21,000 in staff salary and benefits to Douglas’ campaign. The Florida House Democratic Campaign Committee has given more than $9,700 in additional field consulting to the 23-year-old Democrat.
