Mike Wright
Another election, another easy win for Sen. Blaise Ingoglia.
The Spring Hill Republican, who won his first term two years ago against a Green Party candidate, dispatched Democrat Marilyn Holleran to win re-election in Senate District 11.
Ingoglia won with 69% of the vote. He scored big in all four counties of SD 11, topped in Citrus County with 72% support.
Holleran, a retired U.S. diplomat from Hudson, did very little fundraising or campaigning.
Ingoglia’s campaign spent $119,734 to Holleran’s $6,045.
The climb was uphill and steep to Holleran in the heavily Republican district.
Ingoglia is a past House member, former Chair of the Republican Party of Florida and confidante to Gov. Ron DeSantis. Ingoglia also had a mountain of campaign cash at his disposal.
He’s considered a conservative champion among leading state Republicans. SD 11, composed of Citrus, Hernando and Sumter counties, as well as parts of Pasco, supported Donald Trump on Tuesday with 69% of the vote.
Holleran ran a low-key campaign on a shoestring budget. She raised just $9,033 and spent a third of it. Her biggest expense was the $1,781 ballot filing fee.
Holleran said voters should have a choice.
“It’s crucial that we elect officials who genuinely care about the concerns of everyday Floridians, focusing on meaningful issues rather than culture wars,” she said.
Ingoglia’s campaign account shows $173,613 in donations with about 45% of it spent. His two campaign committees — Government Gone Wild PAC and Friends of Blaise Ingoglia — had $2.5 million available combined.
More recently, Ingoglia spent $43,000 on radio ads and mail pieces.
He also conducted a relatively low-key campaign.
Ingoglia didn’t provide campaign information to the Citrus County Chronicle, and he also did not participate in the newspaper’s candidate interviews. Holleran did, and she later received the newspaper’s recommendation.
Ingoglia, who became known two decades ago for his Government Gone Wild rants, is unabashedly conservative. He ranked No. 20 on Florida Politics’ list of Tampa Bay’s most powerful politicians.
“Blaise Ingoglia has been on the forefront of the Conservative Revolution that’s made Florida the role model for the nation,” the Florida Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee said.
Ingoglia’s proximity to DeSantis paid off with the Governor’s endorsement of his 2022 SD 11 campaign, which effectively eliminated an expected showdown with Lecanto Rep. Ralph Massullo. Ingoglia’s lone General Election opponent was Brian Moore of the Green Party.
