With a little more than 50 days left in the race to replace Ron DeSantis, the song remains the same in the Republican primary in the final fundraising report ahead of Saturday’s Florida GOP’s “Sunshine State Showdown.“
Gubernatorial front-runner Byron Donalds added nearly $253,000 to his campaign account and another $435,000 to his to the Friends of Byron Donalds PAC in the week ending June 19, as he continues to dominate fundraising in the GOP race with nearly $66 million on hand.
His total money on hand will decrease on the next report, with a $20 million media buy booked. But even with that money spent, he’s outpacing three candidates who can’t get consistent traction with donors.
James Fishback raised $4,825 to his campaign account and nothing to his Florida First PAC. He had roughly $117,000 to spend total as of June 19.
He spent more than $60,000 during the week from the PAC alone, including money to his running mate Sean Lozano. $5,000 of new money pushed the total for the potential new Lt. Gov past $25,000.
Nice work if you can get it.
Fishback may be the only one paying someone to be on the ticket. But the other campaigns from name candidates have cash troubles all their own.
Lt. Gov. Jay Collins raised a little more than $11,000 to his campaign account and an anemic $1,500 to his political committee during the week. He has roughly $3.5 million to spend, and it’s burning quickly. Nearly $2 million from the p.c. went into an ad buy.
Former House Speaker Paul Renner continues to struggle. He raised less than $30,000 to his campaign account for the second straight fundraising period, and $13,000 to his PAC. He had roughly $2.5 million to spend as of the closing date of June 19.
Candidates will not debate at the GOP event Saturday, and Donalds and allies say that’s just as well because his opponents aren’t viable.
Gov. DeSantis and the field would like a debate, but it’s not happening, and it’s clear investors aren’t looking to spend big against a seemingly inevitable nominee.
