Rep. Ed Hooper collected $46,410 in contributions between July 21 and Aug. 9, giving him an overall total of $155,240, according to newly filed reports with the Florida Division of Elections.
Hooper, who is running in House District 67, faces Largo Republican Christopher Shepard in Tuesday’s primary, with the winner going against Clearwater Democrat Ben Farrell in November.
Hooper collected checks from interests as diverse as the Florida AFL-CIO, Chiro-PAC, Disney and the Seminole Tribe. Hooper’s campaign has spent just $24,009, leaving the third-term incumbent with a healthy warchest for the primary and general elections.
Shepard’s candidacy is hard to consider viable after he raised just $47.75 during the latest fundraising period.
Farrell is at least making a go at it, raising $3,900 to bring his overall total to $6,560. One notable expenditure by Farrell, albeit on July 12, was to Bardine Hazlett Political Consulting, the firm of local Democratic strategists Johnny Bardine and Shari Hazlett.
