Pete Boland, Mike Harting slowed down fundraising amid hurricane recovery; both have dwindling cash as election looms

The District 3 race for St. Petersburg City Council is expected to be close, and the candidates’ remaining cash totals reflect that, though overall fundraising paints a different picture.

Mike Harting, who co-owns 3 Daughters Brewing with his wife, Leigh Harting, has raised nearly twice as much as his opponent, restaurateur Pete Boland. Harting has raised more than $126,000 throughout this cycle, while Boland has brought in just over $69,000, as of Oct. 18.

Neither candidate was particularly active in fundraising during the most recent period, covering financial activity from Oct. 12-18. Boland had the edge, with $850 raised. Harting didn’t raise a dime. Both candidates paused most politicking amid efforts to help the community recover from Hurricanes Helene and Milton.

Helene passed by the Tampa Bay area about 100 miles offshore in the Gulf of Mexico in late September, causing widespread flooding throughout the region in low-lying and coastal areas. Milton made landfall just south of St. Pete on Oct. 10 as a Category 3 storm. While its landfall south of Tampa Bay spared the region a worst-case scenario and didn’t cause as much flooding as Helene, its powerful winds created new damage and exacerbated what was already becoming something of a crisis with massive amounts of debris needing to be collected.

Boland’s contributions this latest period came from just three donors. The Florida Values Coalition, a political committee affiliated with Republican Rep. Berny Jacques, was the top donor with a $500 contribution. Local sales executive Edwin Morris donated $250, and retirees Jeannette and Christopher Comstock donated $100.

In keeping with his efforts to help the community, Boland didn’t spend much during the period, dropping less than $10 for a subscription to Numero, a donor database and call time app used to help candidates raise funds.

But while Harting didn’t raise funds during the period, he spent significantly, nearly $22,000. Harting’s top expense was to Tallahassee-based Election Management Solutions, with a nearly $15,000 spend on advertising. He paid the same firm $1,000 for consulting services. And Harting spent nearly $6,000 on advertising expenses with conservative consulting firm Supernova Digital Communications.

Both Boland and Harting have dwindling cash reserves, Boland with just over $4,000 left in the bank as of Oct. 18 and Harting with less than $3,000.

Boland and Harting are running to replace Ed Montanari on the City Council. Montanari is not seeking re-election due to term limits.

While City Council elections are nonpartisan — meaning candidates’ political affiliation does not appear on the ballot and candidates are barred from discussing their political affiliations as part of their campaign efforts — Montanari is a registered Republican, and the only one currently serving on the board.

Boland is also a registered Republican, while Harting isn’t affiliated with a political party. While Harting is an independent, his consulting firms typically represent Republicans and conservative issues.

Montanari has not endorsed a preferred successor.

Voting is already underway in Pinellas County. Data is not available to indicate how many voters have cast a ballot citywide, but voter turnout countywide as of Monday morning had already reached nearly 33%, with nearly 210,000 ballots cast, most by mail. Republicans have cast the most ballots, at more than 85,000, while just over 78,000 Democrats had already voted. Nearly 42,000 independents and about 4,400 voters affiliated with a minor party have also cast their votes.