Charlie Crist grows fundraising lead, again, by a lot

Former Gov. Charlie Crist has again outraised his opponents in the race for St. Petersburg Mayor, adding more funds than any other candidate to his campaign account and affiliated political committee.

Crist raised $40,000 to the political committee supporting his bid for Mayor, St. Pete Shines. Committees for incumbent Ken Welch and City Council Member Brandi Gabbard didn’t raise a dime.

Welch raised just $1,200 to his campaign. Gabbard raised just $1,000. Crist, meanwhile, raised just under $6,600.

Crist grew his already sizable fundraising lead another nearly $47,000, bringing his combined fundraising total to more than $1.8 million.

Welch has raised a combined total of $433,000, while Gabbard has raised just over $71,000 between both of her accounts.

Three others are also running: former St. Pete Fire Chief Jim Large, jail administrator Maria Scruggs and businessman Kevin Batdorf. Large is the only one of the group to have hit six figures in fundraising to date, with nearly $94,000 raised to his campaign and more than $56,000 to his affiliated political committee, A Better Burg. Scruggs trails with less than $29,000 raised between her campaign account and affiliated committee, The Shelynn PAC. Batdorf, meanwhile, has raised just over $4,500.

And of those three candidates, none raised a significant sum in the most recent campaign finance reporting period covering July 18-24. Large raised $900 to his campaign, but nothing to his committee. Scruggs raised $250 to her campaign, but nothing to her committee. And Batdorf didn’t raise anything in the most recent period.

That means Crist is the only candidate in the six-way race to hit five-figure fundraising in the most recent period. With just over two weeks until the Aug. 18 Primary, Crist’s ongoing fundraising advantage gives him the ability to blanket St. Pete voters with ads and other messaging.

Already Crist is out with a new ad, “Shine,” spotlighting how he’ll improve affordability for residents. The ad notes high property tax rates in St. Pete and offers a plan for relief through millage rate reductions.

After expenditures — nearly $11,000 from his campaign and more than $51,000 from his political committee — Crist retains more than $920,000. His on-hand cash total is more than double what Welch has raised throughout the entire campaign and is more than six times what Welch maintains on-hand, at about $148,000.

The fundraising totals come as Crist continues to dominate polling. A St. Pete Polls survey taken last week shows Crist leading the pack with more than 34% support. Welch follows at 19%, with Gabbard in third at 15% support. No other candidate reaches double-digit support, with Large posting 8.5% support, and Batdorf and Scruggs tied at 3%. What’s more, the poll shows Crist at 51% support among those who had already voted at the time the survey was conducted.

While that is only a small portion of those polled, the number suggests the possibility that Crist could win outright on Aug. 18, the date of the Primary. If any candidate wins more than 50% of the vote in the Primary, they win the election. If no candidate exceeds 50%, the top-two finishers will advance to a runoff in the General Election Nov. 3.