Sen. Bill Galvano, R-Bradenton, will be kicking off his 2016 campaign at an event Thursday in Sarasota.
Galvano will be holding a campaign kickoff event at Dolphin Aviation in Sarasota on Thursday. The event includes a half hour VIP reception and will be followed by a two-hour kickoff event.
Galvano will be using the event to hit the ground running as he prepares to clinch a victory in his third race for the newly-drawn 21st District, which covers Manatee County and most of eastern Hillsborough County. Prior to the Senate redistricting outcome, he represented the 26th District, which covered Charlotte County, DeSoto County, Glades County, Hardy County, eastern Manatee County and southern Hillsborough County.
Fundraising caps are set at $1,000 per person or corporate entity. So far, Galvano has raised a little over $80,000 for his reelection campaign, bringing in a little over $4,000 in contributions for the month of March.
Galvano was first elected to the Florida Legislature in 2002 when he ran his first campaign for the Florida House. He continued to run for his seat several times -- in 2004, 2006, and 2008 -- all times running unopposed. He was unable to seek a fifth term in 2010 due to term limits.
Galvano ran for the Florida Senate in 2012 after the state’s legislative districts were redrawn and ran unopposed in the Republican primary. He ran again in 2014 without opposition and was then named the Senate Majority Leader for the 2014-2016 Senate term.
The Bradenton Republican is currently unopposed for this year’s election and is on the path to become one of the most powerful politicians in Tallahassee in the coming years.
Galvano has enough pledge cards from his fellow Republican senators in order to make the rise to power as the Senate President for the 2019-2020 legislative sessions.
Sen. Joe Negron, R-Stuart, will be taking over as Senate President for the next two years, assuming Republicans still maintain control of the Legislature. After that, the presidency is Galvano’s for the taking.
See the event invitation below.
Reach reporter Allison Nielsen by email at allison@sunshinestatenews.com or follow her on Twitter: @AllisonNielsen.
Download (1.18 MB)