Darren McAuley rounds $400K mark in battle for CD 15

Darren McAuley has raised more than $400,000 since entering the race for Florida’s 15th Congressional District in July, his campaign announced.

McAuley is running for the Democratic nomination to challenge incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. Laurel Lee in the red-leaning district.

His campaign announced a grassroots haul from more than 3,000 individual donors. McAuley is one of three Democrats filed in the race.

Federal Election Commission records only include reports covering financial activity through Dec. 31. As of that date, McAuley was already the top-funded Democrat in the race, with nearly $338,000 collected, including a $50,000 candidate loan. Kimberly Overman, a former Hillsborough County Commissioner, trailed with nearly $76,000, including $9,000 in loans. Robert People had raised just $21,000 as of the end of 2025.

Records show McAuley entered 2026 with more than $176,000 on hand, compared to less than $10,000 for Overman and just over $2,000 for People.

All significantly trail the incumbent, who has raised more than $1.3 million, with just about all of it still on hand at the beginning of the year.

In addition to his latest fundraising, McAuley also announced his senior campaign team, including professionals from Florida and across the nation.

Nehemiah Curnock will serve as Campaign Manager. Kory Kozloski, the former political director for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), and Brian Smoot of 4C Partners will be managing the campaign’s media strategy.

Deliver Strategies’ Dylan Sumner and Emily Maercklein will handle the campaign’s mail strategy, while Rosa Mendoza of the Global Strategy Group will oversee polling.

The senior team also includes Alex Schaffer and Greg Richardson of SBDigital on digital strategy, and James Cersonsky of Nineteen Sixty Campaigns serving as a general consultant and finance director.

The DCCC has placed Florida’s 15th Congressional District in its targeted districts “in play.” While the group does not endorse candidates in the Primary, McCauley’s campaign has nabbed support from other groups and individuals, including the Congressional Black Caucus PAC, The Bench, VoteVets, New Politics, U.S. Senate candidate Alex Vindman and U.S. Rep. Hank Johnson of Georgia.

McAuley is a third-generation combat veteran. He served in the Air Force as a military surgeon, including in six deployments in Iraq. He also served as a physician for the Veterans Health Administration, including time as State Air Surgeon for Florida. He is now the leading expert in osteopathic practices at the Orlando College of Osteopathic Medicine.

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Jacob Ogles of Florida Politics contributed to this report.