Florida’s Senate races reeled in the dough for the month of May, and politicos statewide were getting busy raising big money for their campaigns. With only five months left until the November general election, candidates are gearing up to a big summer of fundraising, and the numbers are just heating up.
Individual contributions are limited to $1,000 per individual for Senate campaign races. The following fundraising totals are from individual contributions and do not include candidate political committees.
Here’s a look at which candidates raised the most money during the month of May:
Jeff Brandes, SD-24
Sen. Jeff Brandes, R-St. Petersburg, raised the most money in May out of all candidates running for the Florida Senate.
Brandes raised $233,000 for his re-election campaign last month, with a significant chunk of his campaign cash coming from one donor: himself. Brandes funneled $200,000 into his own re-election campaign during the month of May.
Brandes had several donations come from insurance companies and from businesses, many of which were located in St. Petersburg.
As of this article’s publishing, Brandes has raised nearly $480,000 with more than $310,000 cash on hand.
Miguel Diaz de la Portilla, SD-37
Sen. Miguel Diaz de la Portilla raised nearly $213,000 for his re-election campaign in May. The Miami Republican will be running in one of the most hotly-contested seats this year.
Diaz de la Portilla will be running in a newly-redrawn district and raised the most amount of money out of all the Miami contenders for his own campaign.
On top of in-kind contributions, a significant chunk of Diaz de la Portilla’s contributions came from the Florida Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee, which is responsible for re-electing Florida’s Republican senators. That committee gave the senator a little over $51,000 in May.
Michael Steinger, SD-30
Trial lawyer Michael Steinger had a strong month of fundraising after he jumped into the race for SD 30, which covers part of Palm Beach County.
Steinger kickstarted his campaign in May and contributed $200,000 of his own money into his campaign.
Steinger will face off against Rep. Bobby Powell, D-Riviera Beach, and attorney Tony Bennett for the seat.
Anitere Flores, SD-39
Sen. Anitere Flores, R-Miami, will face off against Democrat Andrew Michael Korge for this crucial South Florida Senate seat.
Like SD 37, SD 39 covers parts of the Miami-Dade area and both major parties have already pumped hefty lumps of cash to try to lead their candidates to victory.
In May, Flores brought in $167,000. Her biggest additional contribution came from the Florida Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee, which gave nearly $88,000 to her campaign.
Flores had several $1,000 donations, some of which came from electric companies and PACs, including Adam Putnam’s own Florida Grown PAC.
Dana Young, SD-18
Rep. Dana Young, R-Tampa, posted $167,000 for her Senate campaign in May, her biggest fundraising numbers to date.
Young had over 300 individual contributions, with almost 100 of those contributions coming from individual donors who gave her the $1,000 maximum.
Several PACs donated to Young’s campaign as well as several Tallahassee-based consulting firms.
David Simmons, SD-9
Sen. David Simmons, R-Altamonte Springs, raised $126,000 for his re-election campaign in May.
Simmons’ May fundraising numbers were large, totaling more than half the money he has raised for his campaign since he filed to run in September.
The state senator had many $1,000 donations from many different companies. Taxi cab companies, property companies and even a division of Disney all gave Simmons $1,000 each.
Jack Latvala, SD-16
The Clearwater Republican senator raised $117,000 for his campaign to return to the Florida Senate in November.
Latvala filed for re-election last June and has raised a total of over $485,000 for his campaign so far. The state senator had several contributions with the $1,000 cap, including donations from the Associated Industries of Florida, Southern Strategy Group and several law firms.
Latvala has served in the Florida Senate since 1994 after a hiatus from 2002-2008.
Latvala is currently the only candidate in the race.
Bob Buesing, SD-18
Tampa lawyer Bob Buesing raised $102,000 for his Senate campaign during the month of May.
May was Buesing’s first month of fundraising in the race against House Majority Leader Rep. Dana Young, and many of his contributions ranged from the $100-$250 range.
The Florida Democratic Party gave Buesing the most money in addition to in-kind contributions last month, giving him $15,000.
Buesing also put $5,500 of his own money into his campaign.
Other notable donations came from former Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink (who donated $1,000) and various law firms around the Tampa area.
Frank Artiles, SD-40
Rep. Frank Artiles raised $93,000 for his Senate race in May.
Artiles received 77 donations of $1,000, which accounted for most of his contributions last month. Consulting firms and some of Tallahassee’s most well-known lobbying shops like Ron Book and Ballard Partners donated $1,000 each.
Artiles will face off against Miami Democrat Sen. Dwight Bullard for the seat, which is gearing up to be one of the fiercest races this year.
Andrew Korge, SD-39
Andrew Korge raised $84,000 for his Senate campaign in May. Insiders speculate, however, that Korge could be eyeing an opening in SD 40, which has a competitive opening since Sen. Gwen Margolis will not run for reelection. Should Korge try to run in this district, he would already have a strong warchest moving forward.
Several $1,000 donations came from injury rehabilitation centers located throughout South Florida.
SD 39 covers parts of the Miami-Dade area and both major parties have already pumped hefty lumps of cash to try to lead their candidates to victory. Korge will face off for the seat against Republican Sen. Anitere Flores, who has already raised large amounts of money in her campaign.
Reach reporter Allison Nielsen by email at allison@sunshinestatenews.com or follow her on Twitter: @AllisonNielsen.
