Janelle Irwin Taylor
Kyandra Darling has raised more than $32,000 in her bid for House District 62 covering parts of St. Petersburg and Tampa.
Darling, a Democrat, is running to replace Democratic Rep. Michele Rayner, who is not seeking re-election to instead run for the Senate.
“I’m truly humbled by the incredible support this campaign has received,” Darling said. “Not only have we raised significant funds, what excites me most is that over 165 new donors have joined our movement, with 80% of them being residents of Pinellas or Hillsborough County. This is what a community-powered campaign looks like.”
Darling so far faces former Rep. Wengay Newton in the race. Newton represented the district before Rayner. After leaving office, he tried to win the seat back against Rayner after two failed bids for local office, first for Pinellas County Commission and then St. Pete Mayor. He later ran for St. Pete City Council for the seat he held before being elected to the House, a race he also lost.
Now he’s running for the House again.
Darling brought in seven maxed-out $1,000 donations during her first month of campaigning, including from Mark Oliver, himself a former House candidate. Other top donors include Cliff Williams; Christopher Hackney; the Blue Bench Project political committee; former St. Pete City Council candidate Dan Soronen, who was one of Newton’s most recent opponents; Darling’s business; and Friends of Gina Driscoll, the political committee supporting St. Pete City Council member Gina Driscoll.
Other notable contributions came from former St. Pete City Council members Lisa Wheeler-Bowman and John Muhammad; former St. Pete Deputy Mayor Stephanie Owens; former Tampa City Council candidate Hoyt Prindle; progressive pastor Andy Oliver; Shannon Ligon, a lawyer who previously worked with Rayner; and more.
In all, Darling took in 180 contributions throughout March, averaging about $178 each.
She spent more than $5,600 in March, including her top expenditure, $1,920, to Tampa-based L&H Strategies for consulting services. She also cut a check for $891 to Virginia-based consulting firm Deliver Strategies, as well as $600 to Adeb Strategies in West Palm Beach; $690 to Stripe for payment processing; $514 to Eyeconic Creations Photography; $444 to ActBlue; and $75 to Constant Contact for email marketing.
Newton, through March, has raised just $1,000, from the Wilson Project for Florida political committee, which has donated heavily to Newton over the years.
Darling is a former staffer for former U.S. Rep. Charlie Crist and worked as a legislative aide to former St. Pete City Council member Steve Kornell and Wheeler-Bowman. She has also worked in the nonprofit sector, collaborating with more than 40 nonprofit organizations serving health equity, education and economic opportunity issues in the Tampa Bay region.
House District 62 leans heavily Democratic, with more than 49% of the electorate registered as Democrats, compared to just 19% Republicans, according to the most recent L2 voter data.
