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Eric Lynn’s fundraising prowess continues in HD 68 race in June

in The Bay and the 'Burg/Top Headlines by

Eric Lynn raised an impressive amount of money in his bid for Congress in Florida’s 13th Congressional delegation in 2015 and the first part of 2016, and that fundraising prowess is continuing now that he is running for a state House seat.

The Lynn campaign announced on Friday that the former Defense Department adviser had raised over $105,000 in the first 24 days of June, with $53,000 going into his House District 68 campaign, and an additional $52,000 into his political committee, Pinellas Community Voters Fund.

“I am very heartened and grateful for the continued support of so many in this community to stand up for the St. Pete values we share,” said Lynn. “I look forward to fighting on their behalf in Tallahassee.”

Last month Lynn transferred $250,000 from his federal campaign account into his PAC. As he mentioned in his statement on Friday, he still has an additional $300,000 remaining in that federal account, meaning he should not have a problem in getting his message out to the voters in HD 68.

Meanwhile, attorney Ben Diamond, Lynn’s opponent in the Aug. 30 Democratic primary, had yet to post his fundraising totals for June as of 4:15 p.m Friday afternoon. Diamond had raised over $104,000 in the first five weeks of his entrance into the campaign.

JB Bensmihen, the lone Republican in the race, raised just $1,056 from the reporting dates of June 1-June 24, with almost all of that coming from St. Petersburg shopping center developer Mel Sembler, a major player in Republican Party politics.

Mitch Perry has been a reporter with Extensive Enterprises since November of 2014. Previously, he served as five years as the political editor of the alternative newsweekly Creative Loafing. He also was the assistant news director with WMNF 88.5 FM in Tampa from 2000-2009, and currently hosts MidPoint, a weekly talk show, on WMNF on Thursday afternoons. He began his reporting career at KPFA radio in Berkeley. He's a San Francisco native who has now lived in Tampa for 15 years and can be reached at [email protected]

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