When longtime GOP Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen announced that she was retiring, it was clear the GOP was in for a tough fight to hold this Miami-area seat. Still, while Florida’s 27th District shifted from 53-46 Obama all the way to 59-39 Clinton, Republicans still do well down-ballot here, so we expected Team Red to put up a stiff fight. But right now, it's the Democratic candidates who are hoarding cash, while the Republican candidates are acting like all hope is lost.
When Raquel Regalado, a former member of the Miami-Dade County school board and the daughter of termed-out Miami Mayor Tomás Regalado, was considering running, she looked like she'd check all the boxes the GOP wanted. Regalado has hosted a well-known Spanish-language radio show, and the self-described moderate could have reminded voters of Ros-Lehtinen. But while Regalado announced she was running in late May, she took two months to even open a campaign fundraising account. Regalado then proceeded to raise just $15,000 for the third quarter, an absolutely jaw-droopingly low sum. We've seen highly-touted candidates overwhelm many times in the past, but usually not this badly, and it's not clear what's up.
Miami-Dade County Commissioner Bruno Barreiro jumped in back in May, and unlike Regalado, he actually did start raising money. Barreiro took in $176,000 during his first two months in the race, an ok but not incredible haul, but he raised just $42,000 over the following three months. Barreiro had $187,000 left in the bank at the end of September. And as for Bettina Rodriguez Aguilera, the former Doral city councilor who said she'd been abducted by aliens, she raised $5,000. Team Red still has a large bench in this area, and they may be able to find someone better to run. But right now, none of the Republicans are acting at all like they're ready for a tough race.
And how do the Democrats compare? We'll put it this way: Miami Beach Commissioner Kristen Rosen Gonzalez was by far the weakest fundraiser of the six noteworthy candidates who have announced, and she alone has almost as much money as those three Republicans combined. Gonzalez, who announced before Ros-Lehtinen decided to retire, brought in only $49,000 for the quarter, and she had $196,000 on-hand at the end of September. The strongest Democratic fundraiser was Matt Haggman, a former Miami Herald reporter who recently stepped down as Miami program director for the Knight Foundation, a nonprofit that promotes journalism. Haggman raised $510,000 during his first two months in the race, and he had $469,000 on-hand.
Several other Democrats will have access to money. Mary Barzee Flores, a former state judge, brought in $303,000 during her inaugural quarter, and she had $233,000 in the bank. State Sen. José Javier Rodríguez raised a similar $272,000 and had $213,000 on-hand. State Rep. David Richardson took in $264,000 from donors and self-funded another $250,000, and he had $441,000 on-hand. Miami City Commissioner Ken Russell only announced he was running after the fundraising deadline, but he'd been fundraising for months. Russell brought in $222,000 during the third quarter, and he had $247,000 on-hand.