UPDATE — 10:07 p.m.: Charlie Crist told donors during a Monday morning conference call that he has raised “more than half a million dollars” since entering the race for Florida’s 13th Congressional District on October 20. The Crist camp says the $500K haul is a record for Florida Democrat in a non-incumbent, non-special election.
Charlie Crist, the former Florida governor turned congressional candidate, has a series of calls with campaign contributors and supporters scheduled for Monday morning. On the calls, he’s expected to share how much he raised during the first months of his bid for Florida’s 13th Congressional District.
So what kind of number will Crist report? Better yet, what kind of number does he need to report?
There is an easy barometer to measure this first report from Crist. Simply put, he has to report having raised more than the $400,000 his Democratic primary opponent, Eric Lynn, raised during his first three months on the trail. In July, Lynn turned heads when his campaign leaked to the Tampa Bay Times’ Adam Smith that he raised more than any U.S. challenger in Florida in the first quarter of the year and more than all but four incumbents of either party.
It would be disappointing for Crist if his fundraising did not exceed that $400K bar.
Several sources close to the Crist campaign say that he will, in fact, raise more than that. So the question is: How much more?
After it had become apparent Crist would enter the race, Lynn’s fundraising dropped off. He reported raising only $150,000 during the third quarter of 2015, bringing his overall haul to about $550,000.
Might Crist be able to come close to topping that number? Crist has been without an experienced fundraiser for most of this campaign. So if Crist raised $500,000 or more, that has to be seen as a victory. It’s doubtful Crist will have already caught up with what Lynn has raised since getting into the race, but with Crist you never know.
Maybe Charlie pulled another rabbit out of his hat.
