Florida GOP blows out state Democrats in fundraising, mid-year reports show
Eric Daugherty contributed to this report.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (FLV) – The Republican Party of Florida raised substantially more money than the state Democratic Party halfway through 2023, state records show.
Democrats raised more than $733,000 between April and June of this year. In contrast, Republicans raised more than $1.4 million during the same time period.
Between January and March, Democrats raised nearly just under $700,000 while Republicans raised more than $8.4 million, a difference of nearly $7.7 million.
Halfway through 2023, records show the state Republican Party outraising the state Democratic Party by around $8.4 million.
Evan Power, the vice chairman of the Florida GOP, called out Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried and the Democrats for the fundraising gap.
No hype when @NikkiFried and the @FlaDems quietly filed their campaign report after 11:30 last night, less than a million dollars brought in. They can throw around as many F-Bombs and hype videos as they want, but they are still irrelevant, not serious people
— Evan Power (@EvanPower) July 11, 2023
Over the weekend, Miami Beach became the focal point for Florida Democrats as they gathered for the annual Leadership Blue conference.
The multi-day event was held at the Fontainebleau Hotel and included workshops, along with a gala that included a drag performance.
Tickets to the gala were sold at $300 per person, according to the event website. CBS Miami reported the crowd had around 750 people.
The event was open to registered Democrats and included many activists and elected officials.
A video shared on Twitter by user @BenFriedman showed a “surprise drag show” at the event with drag queen Velvet Lenore.
Best way to end the Leadership Blue gala in Miami: a surprise drag show.
— Ben Friedman (@BenFriedman) July 9, 2023
Well done @FlaDems and @NikkiFried! pic.twitter.com/6CwwCgWv0O
In June, official state data found that Florida Republicans reached a half-million voter registration lead over Democrats.
The data, which extends through May 31, found that Florida is host to 5,311,365 Republicans and 4,815,215 Democrats – a GOP lead of 496,150.
