Tampa Bay’s Jeff Brandes top fundraiser in Senate during first quarter

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The conventional wisdom holds that the only possibly competitive State Senate seat up for grabs in 2014 will in District 22, which is currently occupied by freshman Senator Jeff Brandes. The battleground district has gone back and forth between Democrat and Republican, both at the top of the ticket and down-ballot. Democrats think that with a strong gubernatorial candidate running in 2014 and a moderate, attractive female candidate, say Fran Haasch, challenging Brandes, they have a shot of winning this seat.

For his part, Brandes is taking no chances. He raised $111,100 during the first quarter of the 2014 election cycle, making him the top fundraiser among Senate candidates.

Rounding out the Top 5 list are Lizbeth Benacquisto with $112,150 raised, Sen. Joe Negron with $104,200 raised; Sen. Nancy Detert with $96,625 raised; and Sen. Rene Garcia with $90,300.

 

Peter Schorsch is the President of Extensive Enterprises and is the publisher of some of Florida’s most influential new media websites, including SaintPetersBlog.com, FloridaPolitics.com, ContextFlorida.com, and Sunburn, the morning read of what’s hot in Florida politics. SaintPetersBlog has for three years running been ranked by the Washington Post as the best state-based blog in Florida. In addition to his publishing efforts, Peter is a political consultant to several of the state’s largest governmental affairs and public relations firms. Peter lives in St. Petersburg with his wife, Michelle, and their daughter, Ella.