Gay Valimont posts $6.5 million in fundraising ahead of CD 1 Special Election

Gay Valimont. Image via campaign.

Fundraising reports from Democrat Gay Valimont confirm she raised nearly $6.5 million to run in a Special Election for Florida’s 1st Congressional District.

The massive amount dwarfs the $1.6 million she raised when she challenged and lost to former U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz last year. With Gaetz since resigned, she now faces Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis in an April 1 Special Election in Florida’s 1st Congressional District.

Based on voter registration data in the district, Patronis should enter the contest as a favorite. However, Valimont’s numbers show she collected more than three times what Patronis reported through the last fundraising period, which ended on March 12.

Her FEC filings show Valimont collected nearly $6.4 million just since Jan. 9. The donations come from across the country as Democrats nationally look to express outrage at President Donald Trump’s policies since his return to office.

“This is showing how people are not super happy with what’s going on right now, and especially in this district,” said Katherine Jackson, Valimont’s Communications Director. ” We hear from veterans and federal workers about the cuts to the VA (Veterans Affairs Administration) and talk to federal workers who lost their jobs. A lot of people thought these cuts would only be in D.C. and it’s hitting home in our district. That has captured attention nationwide.”

Jackson said donations have poured in from around the country, primarily from small donors. The average donation, according to the campaign, was around $33.

Patronis won a Republican Primary in January mainly because of the strength of Trump’s endorsement.

The National Democratic Committee announced on Thursday a coordinated campaign with the Florida Democratic Party in Special Elections in Florida congressional districts, part of an effort to organize Democrats in all parts of the country.

Still, Republicans significantly outnumber Democrats in CD 1. As of the March 3 closing of voter rolls, around 312,000 Republicans were registered and eligible to vote in the Special Election, compared to fewer than 119,000 Democrats and about 136,000 other voters.

The district remains the most Republican-heavy in Florida, and Trump won a higher percentage of the vote there than anywhere else in the state.

But just as Valimont challenged Gaetz as an embarrassment to the district, she said voters across the political spectrum are now agitated by Trump. She has also stressed she lives in the district while Patronis does not.

“We’re talking to every voter we can. Yet, my opponent is ducking every chance to face voters at debates and joint forums,” Valimont posted this week. “If he doesn’t care enough to connect with our district now, what do you think he’ll be like as FL-1’s rep?”