Fundraising Lags for North Florida House Members in Second Quarter

Credit: myfloridahouse.gov

The 2014 election cycle is off to a slow start for some legislators representing North Florida, based on fundraising for the second quarter of 2013.

Reports for candidates for the Florida Legislature are starting to trickle out and some Republican incumbents representing parts of North Florida underwhelmed in that period. While members of the Legislature are prohibited from raising money during session, some members did little to add to their war chests in the second quarter of 2013.

Rep. Janet Adkins, R-Fernandina Beach, told Sunshine State News on Monday that she has been concentrating elsewhere. ?We?ve been very focused on our legislative agenda,? Adkins said.

Adkins, chairwoman of the K-12 Subcommittee and a member of both the Education Appropriations Subcommittee and the Education Committee, pointed to her upcoming education summit with state Education Commissioner Tony Bennett as getting more of her attention than fundraising.

Telling Sunshine State News that her fundraising efforts and her campaign would kick off in the fall, Adkins, who represents all of Nassau County and parts of Duval County, brought in $1,000 and spent $993.75 in the second quarter, meaning she added $6.25 for the second quarter to her war chest. In the first quarter of 2013, Adkins raised $14,150. As of June 30, she has around $12,400 on hand. Despite her second-quarter fundraising, Adkins can take solace that Republicans make up 51 percent of the district while only 30 percent are Democrats.

Adkins was not the only House member from the northern part of the Sunshine State who did not concentrate on fundraising in the second quarter. Rep. Doc Renuart, R-Ponte Vedra, who represents parts of St. Johns County, raised only $1,600 from April 1-June 30 and spent $128. That?s a major step back from the almost $14,000 he brought in during the first quarter of 2013. Renuart has just less than $16,000 on hand.

On paper, Renuart is even safer from the Democrats than Adkins. Democrats make up only 25 percent of Renuart?s district while 55 percent are Republicans. But, as Renuart knows very well after a tough contest against Mike Davis and Kim Kendall in 2012, he could face a primary threat.

Nor are Renuart and Adkins alone. More than a few Republican representatives from the northern part of the state underwhelmed with second quarter fundraising. Freshman Rep. Travis Cummings, R-Orange Park, raised $1,500 and spent $4,400 in the second quarter, leaving around $11,400 in the bank. Cummings already has an opponent in Libertarian Kenneth Willey who raised $280 and spent $140 during that same period. Rep. Charlie Stone, R-Ocala, who had no opposition in 2012, raised even less in the second quarter, bringing in $500, bringing his total in the bank to around $7,900.

Cummings told Sunshine State News on Monday that he took Willey's challenge "seriously" and would focus more on fundraising in the second half of 2013. "My plan is to focus on it," Cummings said.?

Cummings said he had put fundraising on the back burner after his first legislative session to deal with his business and family life. "I've gotten refocused on my professional life as well as my family life," he said, adding he plans to be more in campaign mode for the second half of 2013. ?

But not all Republicans in the Florida House had a bad quarter. Rep. Dave Hood, R-Daytona Beach, brought in $6,650 during the second quarter, raising his on-hand total to almost $14,500.

Hood, a veteran politician who served on the Volusia County School Board, the Ormond Beach City Commission and as mayor of Ormond Beach, told Sunshine State News his fundraising success during the second quarter came about due to new tactics.?

?For the first time, I decided to raise some money,? Hood said, praising his ?great group of supporters and friends.? Hood said most of his fundraising came about due to a letter he sent to supporters and they responded warmly.

Speaking to Sunshine State News Monday, Mike Grissom, former executive director of the Republican Party of Florida (RPOF) who is now the senior director of political affairs at the Florida Chamber of Commerce, said he is not surprised that incumbents in safe Republican seats were not raising much for 2014 so far.

?There?s still some donor fatigue out there when it comes to 2012,? Grissom said. ?There are still malcontents about the way money was spent.?

Grissom said the Republican leadership would be more concerned with incumbents representing districts Democrats would have less difficulty picking up.

Grissom added that House incumbents who face primary fights should be able to count on the Republican leadership to help them. ?They will be able to count on leadership to save them if primaried,? he told Sunshine State News. ?The party has always been an incumbency retention program.?

Fundraising reports for the second quarter will continue to be released in the coming days. SSN called the offices of Renuart, Stone and Cummings but messages were not returned.

Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or at 904-521-3722.

Source: http://www.sunshinestatenews.com/story/fundraising-lags-north-florida-house-members-second-quarter

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