Janelle Irwin Taylor
Kyandra Darling is easily outraising her competitors for the open House District 62 race, bringing in more than five times as much as her closest competitor.
Darling is running to replace Democratic state Rep. Michele Rayner, who, despite not facing term limits, is leaving office to run for Florida Senate. Darling faces two opponents so far in the Democratic Primary for the seat: former state Rep. Wengay Newton, who held the seat before Rayner, and Upton Fisher, Rayner’s current legislative aide.
Darling has raised more than $53,000 for the race so far, blowing past Fisher by about $50,000, and raising about five times as much as Newton, who has brought in less than $10,000.
The fundraising totals are as of June 30.
Darling is a former staffer for former U.S. Rep. Charlie Crist and worked as a legislative aide to former St. Pete City Council members Steve Kornell and Lisa Wheeler-Bowman. Darling 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.
Her latest haul, spanning April through June, includes more than $21,000 in contributions, including notable support from former Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink ($200), St. Pete City Council member Lisset Hanewicz ($500), Ruth’s List Florida ($500) and former congressional candidate Whitney Fox ($150), among others.
The maximum contribution for legislative races is $1,000; none of Darling’s contributions exceed $500. In total, her contributions during the period averaged less than $125 each, indicating a strong emphasis on grassroots campaigning.
With just under $33,000 spent to date, Darling maintains more than $20,000 in her campaign account, still far more than either of her competitors have raised.
Darling’s most recent expenses include several checks to L&H Strategies for consulting services totaling more than $6,400, and to Vanguard Political for consulting services totaling a little more than $5,300. Other expenses covered donation and credit card fees, event expenses, supplies, printing, staffing and other campaign expenses.
In the same period, from April through June, Newton raised more than $8,600, bringing his total raised to date to just over $9,600, with about $8,200 left to spend. He brought in 19 total donations during the period, including six maxed-out contributions from education consultant John Kirtley, businessman Bill Edwards, the Foundation for Freedom political committee, the Florida Leadership Committee, Freddie Figgers and Phares Risser, an oil executive.
The Florida Leadership Committee is affiliated with former state Sen. Jack Latvala, a Republican. The Foundation for Freedom political committee is run by Jamie Jodoin, a local Republican who serves as Treasurer for the Pinellas GOP.
Newton, also a former St. Petersburg City Council member, has run for office a number of times. He’s been unsuccessful in his past several attempts at elected office, including most recently in his attempt to return to the City Council, in a race he ultimately lost to Corey Givens Jr. Newton often enjoys bipartisan support in his campaigns. That could be a strategy at play in the HD 62 race, which strongly favors Democrats.
HD 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.
No Republican has yet entered the race, meaning Newton could be betting that support from the minority of conservatives within the district may be the edge he needs.
But he’s been here before.
Newton served the district for two terms, from 2016 until 2020, before opting to leave the Legislature to run for local office. He first ran for Pinellas County Commission and then for St. Pete Mayor, losing both bids. He then sought a comeback to the Legislature, losing in 2022 to Rayner, who had replaced him in 2020.
The third candidate in the race, Fisher, has raised just $3,245 for his race. But he only entered in early June, giving him less than one month to raise funds before the period was over. Still, he has a long way to go to be competitive in fundraising, particularly with Darling.
Fisher’s contributions were all for $500 or less, most at $100 or less. The average contribution came in at about $95.
Fisher maintains most of his funds, having spent less than $120 so far.
Fisher is a Navy veteran, but his work as Rayner’s aide could be his biggest campaign boost. With only a little over a month on the trail, it’s worth watching how Fisher’s experience serving the district as an aide plays in the campaign.
Meanwhile, Darling continues to surge not just in funding, but in endorsements. Last month she added 17 new supporters to her growing list, including Hillsborough County Commissioner Harry Cohen, Hillsborough County Property Appraiser Bob Henriquez and St. Pete City Council members Gina Driscoll and Hanewicz. Former St. Pete Mayor Rick Kriseman and former state Rep. Frank Peterman were also among the new endorsers.
Supporters also include:
— Former Chief Financial Officer Sink.
— Alan Johnson, former Mayor of St. Petersburg Beach.
— Pat Gerard, former Pinellas County Commissioner.
— Cindy Stewart, former Hillsborough County Clerk and Comptroller.
— Charlie Gerdes, former St. Pete City Council member.
— John Muhammad, former St. Pete City Council member.
— Kathleen Beckman, former Clearwater City Council member.
— Eric Gerard, former Largo City Commissioner.
— Rev. Jana Hall-Perkins, faith leader.
— Imam Wilmore Sadiki, faith leader.
— Bishop Manuel Sykes, faith leader.
