The Florida Democratic Party has its work cut out for it for during the 2016 election, with an expensive election season looming and a small amount of cash on hand when compared to their Republican counterparts.
The FDP’s fundraising numbers for the first quarter of 2016 weren’t too measly, with the party raising more than $682,000 during the first three months of May. Some of the FDP’s biggest donations came from Disney and from health insurance companies like FloridaBlue. Florida Power and Light also contributed a significant amount to the FDP during that time.
As of this article’s publishing, the state Democratic party had a little over $2.3 million cash on hand. For comparison, the FDP had a little over $3.1 million in campaign contributions during the the 2014 general election.
Compared to Republican fundraising, the FDP hasn’t raised nearly as much as statewide Republicans.
The Republican Party of Florida, which has raised over $4.6 million, is already surpassing state Democrats -- and their fundraising is still being kept separate from the Florida Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee, which has raised big amounts of cash for this year’s election.
The committee separated itself from the RPOF shortly after Blaise Ingoglia took over as party chair. Gov. Rick Scott also broke away from the state Republican Party, choosing to raise money for his Let’s Get to Work committee instead.
To put it in perspective, the Florida Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee has raised nearly $7 million for the 2016 elections, raking in over $1 million during the first three months of this year.
That committee is led by Sen. President Joe Negron, R-Stuart, and is exclusively set up to help Republican senators in their campaigns. The committee has raised significant amounts of cash since late 2014, fundraising over $11 million.
The group has spent some of that cash, however, paying various lawyers and consulting firms for the 2016 election cycle.
Democrats will need to bring their “A” game to the table if they want to take control of the House and the Senate in 2016. Republicans currently have control of both chambers, holding 81 of the 120 seats in the House and 26 of the 40 seats in the Senate.
All state lawmakers are up for reelection this year, and some districts -- especially in the Senate. Winning back a legislature which has leaned Republican since the 1990s will take strong candidates and big money. Right now, it seems the FDP is already on track to get outspent for November.
Reach reporter Allison Nielsen by email at allison@sunshinestatenews.com or follow her on Twitter: @AllisonNielsen.
