FL-20: We have our first fundraising reports from all the notable candidates running in the November Democratic primary to succeed the late Rep. Alcee Hastings, and one self-funder enjoys a huge cash lead over the rest of the field in this safely blue South Florida seat. We hadn’t before mentioned Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, who lost the 2018 and 2020 primaries to Hastins by margins of 74-26 and 69-31, respectively, but she surprised us by loaning her new campaign $2.3 million.
Cherfilus-McCormick, who is the CEO of a home health care company, had self-funded a considerably smaller $50,000 during her latter campaign, and there was little indication before now that she was willing and able to pour this much into her open seat bid. The candidate also raised just under $100,000 from donors this year, which was still far more than she brought in during her last two runs, and she ended June with $2.1 million on-hand.
The candidate who brought in the most money without self-funding was Broward County Commissioner Dale Holness, who took in $305,000 and had $270,000 in the bank. Next up with $225,000 raised was state Rep. Bobby DuBose, who had $205,000 available to spend.
Further back was state Sen. Perry Thurston, who raised $180,000 and loaned himself another $100,000, which allowed him to end June with $250,000 on-hand. State Rep. Omari Hardy, meanwhile, took in $95,000 and had $70,000 in the bank.
Broward County Commissioner Barbara Sharief, who launched a bid against Hastings before he died in April, raised only $55,000 from donors but loaned herself another $130,000, which left her with $155,000 on-hand. Finally, former Palm Beach County Commissioner Priscilla Taylor, who announced in June, brought in about $25,000 and had $20,000 to spend.
The filing deadline is Aug. 10, so it’s possible that the field will still expand. The winner of the November primary should have no trouble in the January general election.
