Lauren Book dusts GOP foes with $1.3M raised so far for SD 30

Former Senate Democratic Leader Lauren Book is a veritable shoo-in to win the race for Senate District 30, but that hasn’t stopped her from fundraising as if she’s facing deep-pocketed, politically well-positioned opponents.

In May, Book raised a respectable $59,000 in her first 10 days running. Between June 1 and July 24, the last date from which campaign finance figures are available, she stacked $1.24 million, bringing her total haul since shifting to the SD 30 contest to nearly $1.3 million.

Two Republicans in the race, Hector Rivera and Jerusa Zitta, have raised a comparatively miniscule $13,000 combined.

Book leaned heavily on real estate, legal and automotive interests last period, but those were hardly the only industries from which companies donated.

Her biggest single gain was a $50,000 contribution from real estate magnate Stephen Ross, owner of the Miami Dolphins and their Hard Rock Stadium home, among other holdings.

Other notable personal checks included $15,000 from Santa Rosa Beach real estate pro Matthew Lazenby and $2,000 from restaurateur Jimmy Flanigan.

She also received $1,000 apiece from philanthropist and former pro basketballer Alonzo Mourning, prominent South Florida lawyer Ben Kuehne, Weston lawyer and repeat political candidate Chad Klitzman and former Miami-Dade County Transportation Director Alice Bravo, who now runs an eponymous engineering consulting firm.

From real estate, Book took $20,000 total from Sunrise-based GL Homes, $15,000 from Aventura-based Oletta Partners, $11,000 from a political committee linked to Miami-based Royal American Management, $10,000 apiece from Miami-based Atlantic Pacific Communities and Creighton Development, and $5,000 from Miami-headquartered Terra Group.

Automotive-related contributions included $20,000 from Coral Gables-based Albany Auto Management, $13,000 from New Jersey-based Kollective Automotive Group, $9,000 from Dealer Services Network, $2,500 from LeJeune Auto Wholesaler and $1,000 from AutoNation.

She received $25,000 from Miami law firm Gold & Associates, $10,000 from West Palm Beach legal outfit Ted L. Hollander & Associates and $5,000 from the Shubin Law Group, also in Miami.

A Stronger Florida, a political committee connected with lobbying firm Rubin Turnbull & Associates, donated $25,000.

Other contributions included $26,000 from private prison operator The GEO Group, $25,000 from Alabama pyrotechnics company American Promotional Events, $20,000 from Miramar-based Vitas Healthcare and $10,000 each from Coral Gables-based Bacardi, Miami-based Gold Coast Beverage, Florida Power & Light parent NextEra Energy, Pennsylvania-headquartered Penn Credit Corp. and CDR Enterprises, a Miami-based emergency management company.

CDR and The GEO Group have been the subject of some South Florida political food-fighting among Democratic candidates, as both companies have worked with state and federal agencies in arresting and detaining immigrants throughout Florida, including at the now-shuttered Alligator Alcatraz complex in the Everglades.

Book spent $154,000 last period, the preponderance of which went to South Florida campaign consulting firms.

She paid close to $36,000 to Michael Worley’s Plantation-based MDW Communications for communications and direct mail consulting, more than $33,000 to Wellington-based National Campaign Resource Group for texts, $28,000 to two companies run by Wilton Manors-based consultant Eric Johnson (1176 Inc. and Johnson Strategies) for media mail consulting and strategic planning and $17,000 to Fort Lauderdale-based Claire VanSusteren’s CVS Comms for communication and ad services.

Another $12,000 went to Andrew Dolberg’s Plantation-based Sunshine Strategies Group for political and media mail consulting and $5,000 to Emma Collum’s EEC Strategies in Oakland Park for campaign and communications consulting.

Book also paid about $7,300 for event sponsorships and advertising with the Broward County AFL-CIO, Florida Democratic Party, Palm Beach Human Rights Council, Democratic Club of Boca Raton and Broward Democratic Party.

The rest of her spending covered accounting and donation-processing fees, campaign apparel and legal services.

By July 25, she had about $2.38 million remaining between her campaign account and political committee, Leadership for Florida. Book has loaned her campaign $25,000 this cycle, all of it refundable if unspent.

Rivera, a self-described “Reagan-era Republican” who works in real estate and loan consulting, raised about $4,000 through his campaign account since filing for the race June 12.

He then spent $1,800, almost all of it on the race’s qualifying fee.

Rivera’s gains included a $1,900 transfer from his bank account not listed as a self-loan and $2,000 from a retired Delray Beach couple.

He entered this week with $2,100 remaining.

Zitta, a construction industry professional and self-described “supporter of the America First Agenda,” raised just over $1,500 since May 31 — and spent roughly twice that.

She received four three-figure personal checks and $500 from St. Petersburg-based MAGA Cactus FL PC, chaired by sports radio personality Ted Sarandis, who is one of three people running for Port of Palm Beach Commissioner.

Sarandis also gave Zitta $500 directly.

Almost all of Zitta’s $3,000 in spending last period paid for campaign signs, according to her filings. The rest covered donation processing.

Since entering the SD 30 contest in January, Zitta has raised about $9,000 through her campaign account, which held $1,122 by July 25. Her gains included a $1,650 self-loan.

Zitta also has a political committee, Friends of Jerusa Zitta, which her father Arno Zitta chairs. So far, it hasn’t raised or spent a cent.

Arno Zitta’s media company, Zitta Media Solutions, enjoyed a business bump in late 2019 after President Donald Trump’s administration shared a video of one of the company’s billboard trucks.

Zitta’s campaign website says that in addition to various charitable and community-focused endeavors, she has “participated in various Republican fundraisers at Mar-a-Lago,” the President’s Palm Beach resort home.

Book, Rivera and Zitta are running to succeed outgoing Boca Raton Democratic Sen. Tina Scott Polsky, who announced in May that she would not seek re-election in SD 30, which covers part of Boca Raton in Palm Beach County and all or part of Coconut Creek, Coral Springs, Deerfield Beach, Lighthouse Point, Margate, North Lauderdale, Parkland and Pompano Beach in Broward.

The Primary is Aug. 18, followed by the General Election on Nov. 3.