Hollywood City Commissioner Caryl Shuham far outpaced three other Democrats running to succeed Beam Furr on the Broward County Commission last period, stacking more than $72,500 toward her bid for the panel’s District 6 seat.
Between April 1 and June 26, she added more than $49,000 to her campaign account and another $23,500 to her political committee, Friends of Caryl Shuham.
Her closest fundraising competitor, Dania Beach Commissioner A.J. Ryan, raised roughly $25,000, while candidate Eugene Bold and Jeffrey Jones collected about $20,000 and $9,000, respectively.
Shuham, a construction-focused lawyer who carries endorsements from Furr, among others, has leaned heavily on the real estate sector to seek campaign cash.
Last period, she received $10,000 from construction company Moss & Associates and $9,000 from Mike Fee of contracting company Lotspeich — both of Fort Lauderdale — and $5,000 apiece from St. Petersburg-based Power Design, All American Windows COO Marilyn Delahoz and Pembroke Pines-based CES Construction, which also contributed $900 in in-kind aid for event food and beverages.
New Jersey-based Colliers Engineering and Design contributed $2,500, while Core Construction and Baker Concrete Construction each contributed $1,000.
Other corporate contributors included Tennessee-based red-light camera company Blue Line Solutions and Boca Raton-headquartered Coastal Waste and Recycling, each giving $2,500, and intercounty rail company Brightline, which gave $1,000.
Shuham spent $44,000 during the period on polling, mail media consulting, political consulting, advertising, field organizing, signage, petition fees with the Broward Supervisor of Elections, stamps, refreshments at a Broward Democratic Executive Committee meeting, a gala sponsorship with the Julie Dolphin Democrats, bank fees and donation-processing fees.
As of late June, she’d raised close to $425,500, including a $100,000 self-loan. She had $330,000 remaining by the end of the period.
Ryan, a small-business owner in real estate, insurance and community management who has served as Dania Beach Mayor, received donations from a blend of real estate, legal, waste management and various business interests.
Contributors included Michael Cassel, husband and law firm partner to Dania Beach Republican Rep. Hillary Cassel, and companies including United Cab of Broward, Waste Management of Florida, Saben Properties, Tripp Scott Attorneys at Law and Westway Towing.
Broward Professional Firefighters, Local 4321, also donated to him.
Ryan ended the period having raised just $3,000 shy of $100,000 through his campaign account. After spending $48,500 on an Anthropic subscription, campaign apparel, promotional materials, advertising, event supplies, consulting, a sponsorship with the Broward Democratic Party, a filing fee with the Broward Supervisor of Elections, signage and donation-processing fees, he had just over $22,000 left.
Bold, a former Director of Policy and Public Affairs for Broward County now working privately as a strategic adviser and policy consultant, received 41 donations last period. All but one $100 contribution from a cleaning service came from people, some of whom donated as little as $10.
He’s raised about $90,000 this cycle through his campaign account, which had less than $400 remaining after he spent more than $28,000 on campaign merch, materials, website fees, staff pay, consulting services, petition fees with the Supervisor of Elections, media production, signage, bank fees and donation-processing fees.
Jones, a maritime business owner who unsuccessfully challenged Furr in 2022, placed last in fundraising, with 87% of his campaign account’s gains last period coming from his bank account.
The rest came from relatively small personal checks from donors in the longshoring industry.
He also spent about $7,600, the preponderance on a qualifying fee, after which he had just over $1,800 on hand.
The Broward County Commission’s District 6 covers most of Hollywood, all of Dania Beach, Hallandale Beach, Pembroke Park and West Park, and parts of Davie and Fort Lauderdale.
All four candidates will appear on the Aug. 18 Primary ballot. If no candidate receives more than 50% of the vote to win outright, the top two vote-getters will compete in a runoff culminating in the Nov. 3 General Election.
