In what is expected to be a hotly-contested race for the Florida House District 63 seat currently held by Republican Shawn Harrison, the incumbent has jumped out to a sizable lead – at least in terms of raising funds.
According to fund-raising totals reported on Jan. 11, Harrison pulled in $31,700 from donors in December, pushing him to just above $100,000 for the 2016 race. After the Dec. figures were released, Harrison said (in an email to his supporters), “Thank you all for your help in my December fund-raising surge, now it’s time for the 2016 session!”
And, those figures surely received a boost from Harrison’s last pre-legislative session fund raiser on Jan. 7 at The Legacy at Highwoods Preserve assisted living facility in New Tampa (see story on pg. 20). He said roughly 70 people attended that event.
“There were a lot of folks from New Tampa there,’’ Harrison said. “I’ve been in elected office for many years and built up quite a good network of friends and co-workers who would like to see that service continue.”
District 63 includes much of Northern Hillsborough County, including New Tampa and the University of South Florida. Harrison will be opposed by whichever Democrat emerges from the looming August 30 Primary Election battle between current District 7 Tampa City Council member Lisa Montelione and Mike Reedy, a state organizer for Equality Florida, a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT)-advocacy group.
Harrison won the Dist. 63 seat in 2014, defeating Democrat Mark Danish, who had beaten Harrison for the same seat in 2012.
While December isn’t considered a great month for political fund raising, because of the holidays, it is an important one for House members like Harrison, who are prohibited from raising money during the state legislative session, which convened again on Jan. 12 and runs through Mar 11.
“It’s obviously a pretty big number, $30,000 in one month, and it was a quite a successful month for fund raising,’’ Harrison told the Neighborhood News. “It was a nice little push before session to get some money into the account.”
Harrison, who will be pushing a number of important items related to the University of South Florida during the session and who has already pushed a bill forward to move the Second District Court of Appeals from Lakeland to Tampa, said he was just as pleased to break the six-figure mark for his campaign, a personal goal of his.
Montelione raised $5,020 in December. She said she is not surprised by Harrison’s fund-raising numbers nor the timing. “If you look at them, I think there’s (45) contributions, mostly all $1,000, which is the maximum and mostly from companies that will want something from him this upcoming season.”
Of Harrison’s 45 December contributions, 25 were for the maximum $1,000 allowed.
Montelione was pleased with the amount she raised. “I think that’s pretty decent,’’ she said.
Since entering the race in November, Montelione has raised $14,313.
“Considering I only got in the race a few months ago, I feel fabulous about where I am,’’ she said. “That’s in only about three weeks of fund raising.”
Reedy had his slowest fund-raising month since filing on Jan. 26, 2015, to challenge Harrison. In December, Reedy raised $130.64 to bring his campaign total to $16,478.32.
Reedy has picked up some key endorsements since entering the race, however, including one from former Rep. Danish himself.
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