Jacob Ogles
Sun Broadcasting President Jim Schwartzel has quickly pulled together $1.2 million for his campaign to succeed U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds.
That includes $1 million the Fort Myers Republican put in himself in the form of a candidate loan.
Schwartzel in April filed for the open seat representing Florida’s 19th Congressional District.
Since then, he reported almost $213,000 in outside contributions to his campaign, most of that in individual contributions. His receipts include $3.500 from political committees.
That puts him behind only former Illinois state Sen. Jim Oberweis in terms of fundraising, who reported $2.12 million in fundraising through July. But that includes $2 million in candidate loans.
That means Schwartzel has already raised the most in donations to his campaign.
But speculation continues in Southwest Florida about what other major candidates may jump in the race. Donalds is not seeking re-election so that he can run for Governor in 2026, putting the seat in a heavily Republican region up for grabs.
Outside of Oberweis and Schwartzel, veteran Marine Aviator Mike Pedersen has also jumped into the race (literally) and raised more than $14,500.
Two other Republicans, Johnny Fratto and Dylan Modarelli, have opened federal accounts to run but have reported no fundraising to date.
Democrat Howard Sapp has raised more than $8,300 for the seat. But CD 19 leans heavily right. Donalds in November won re-election over Democrat Kari Lerner with more than 66% of the vote.
The region is also one of the wealthiest, and self-funders have found success in the area before. While Donalds, a former state lawmaker, found success running against multiple self-funded millionaires in 2020, he followed U.S. Rep. Francis Rooney, a developer who largely bankrolled his own run.
The 2020 race was the last time no incumbent ran, and nine Republicans ultimately appeared on the Primary ballot that year.
