As the end nears for Lakeland’s bitter House District 40 primary, Republican Colleen Burton finished the first phase of her campaign with nearly $34K in thirteen days to outpace her GOP opponent, attorney John Shannon.
Burton posted $33,975 from Aug. 9-21 in the race to replace state Rep. Seth McKeel, for a primary campaign total of $197,820. After spending $56,345 – much of which went o Mentzer Media Services from Maryland and Washington D.C.-based Political Ink – the former executive director of Polk Vision now has $38,191 on hand.
Shannon, the Lakeland attorney and Marine Corps veteran, raised $12,350 in the 13-day reporting period, bringing his total to $147,160. During that time, he spent nearly $37,000 — mostly to Strategic Management for print and other media buys. So far, Shannon’s to date expenditures are $145,418, leaving him with $1,742 cash on hand.
The winner of Tuesday’s Aug. 26 GOP primary will face Democrat Ricky Shirah and American Independent Party candidate Franklin Shoemaker for the seat covering Lakeland and much of Polk County. Shirah raised $250 and Shoemaker reported $735 in donations during the reporting period.
