Gov. Rick Scott's sizable fundraising haul since Charlie Crist entered the governor's race continues to mount.
Scott's fundraising committee Let's Get to Work has updated its numbers again this week and the total for the month of November now stands at nearly $5.84 million. That pushes the total raised by the committee since the summer of 2011 to $25.1 million. This is the magic mark for Scott who predicted he would spend that much money to define his opponent in early 2014.
The latest push came courtesy of contributions given last week from many of the big political names and companies tied to Jacksonville and Northeast Florida. (Or what could also be known as Adam Hollingsworth territory, Scott's chief of staff who is a former CSX executive and worked as chief of staff to then-Jacksonville Mayor John Peyton.)
Florida Blue, one of the state's largest health insurers, and several of its affiliates kicked in $187,500 last week, while well-known Jacksonville businessman Tom Petway donated $50,000. Steve Halverson, CEO of The Haskell Company gave $15,000, former Jacksonville mayor John Delaney contributed $750 and the firm of Wiles Boselli contributed $2,500. Susie Wiles was Scott's campaign manager in 2010.
Democrat Crist also posted new numbers this week. His political committee - Charlie Crist for Florida - has moved past the $1 million mark since entering the race at the start of the month. His new total stands at $1.28 million.
Crist has 45 contributors so far, including the Institute of Cardiovascular Excellence of Ocala, which gave the former governor a $100,000 check on Saturday. Crist also received a $15,000 check from Daryl Parks, who is the law partner of Benjamin Crump. Crump has been representing the parents of Trayvon Martin, the unarmed teenager who was shot and killed by George Zimmerman. Zimmerman, who claimed self-defense, was acquitted of second-degree murder charges filed against him.
Another donor to Crist is Democratic mega-donor Barbara Stiefel, who gave $100,000. According to the Tampa Bay Times she is a retiree from Coral Gables who gave large sums last year to "super PACs" that were backing President Barack Obama.
Give em hell Charlie!
Posted by: stuntmanmike | November 27, 2013 at 11:20 AM