María Elvira Salazar, Richard Lamondin top Q4 Primary fundraising for CD 27

Republican U.S. Rep. María Elvira Salazar and Democratic entrepreneur Richard Lamondin topped their Primary fundraising pushes last quarter for Florida’s 27th Congressional District, adding $241,000 and $237,000 to their respective campaign coffers.

Salazar’s gains placed her in an even more advantageous position to repel GOP challenger Vincent Arias, who filed to run Jan. 8 and won’t have to file his first report until April.

Lamondin’s haul put him within striking distance of $700,000 raised this cycle. He topped two others competing for the Democratic nomination: former prosecutor Robin Peguero, who added $148,000 last quarter, and CPA Alex Fornino, who raised less than $250.

CD 27, one of three Florida districts that the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has highlighted as “in play,” covers Miami, Coral Gables, Cutler Bay, Key Biscayne, Pinecrest, North Bay Village, South Miami, West Miami and several unincorporated areas.

Salazar has held the seat since January 2021.

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

Republican Primary

Salazar received 108 contributions in Q4 averaging $2,229. Several personal checks came in at the maxed-out $7,000 total, representing $3,500 apiece for the Primary and General elections, which are legally considered separate races.

Notable Florida donors included investor Philip Blumberg, insurance executives Vincente Castro and Ivan Herrera, developer Armando Codina, Matcon CEO Jesus Iglesias, tech CEO Harley Lippman, auto magnate Mario Murgado and Miami Marlins Chair Bruce Sherman.

El Paso businessman Woody Hunt and New York hedge fund manager Cliff Asness gave $7,000 apiece too.

A variety of industry PACs chipped in, with donations including $5,000 from the American Society of Travel Advisors, $2,500 from the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers, $2,500 from the National Elevator Constructors PAC and $2,000 from the American Council of Engineering Companies.

JPMorgan Chase gave $4,000. RTech Engineering donated $3,500. Elevance Health, Royal Caribbean Group and Zillow gave $2,500 each. PricewaterhouseCoopers gave $2,000.

Several GOP joint fundraising committees affiliated with Salazar also added to her gains, including Salazar Victory Committee, which gave her nearly $112,000; GOP Winning Women, which gave close to $13,000; the American Battleground Fund, which added $6,700; and the Hispanic Leadership Trust Partnership, which gave $2,600.

She also earned about $9,400 in interest from First American Bank.

Salazar spent about $167,000 between Oct. 1 and Dec. 31. Through New Year’s Eve, she raised $955,600 this cycle and spent $954,700. Heading into 2026, she had more than $1.7 million in carry-over cash.

Her spending last quarter overwhelmingly covered consulting. The biggest recipient was the Virginia-based Stanton Group, which received $47,500 for finance consulting, accounting services and an event rental.

She also paid $20,000 to Miami-based Smart Voters USA for grassroots and field consulting, $10,000 to Tom Moran in Washington for strategy consulting, $9,000 to Strategic Victory Solutions in Houston for compliance and shipping, $7,500 to Andrews Garcia in Miramar for digital communications consulting, $2,400 to West Palm Beach-based Inspire Capital for finance consulting, $2,250 to Homestead-based Nabut Professional Services, $2,000 to Howard Senior in Virginia for IT consulting, $1,500 to Dickson Wright in Michigan for legal consulting and $1,000 to Isabella Menendez of Orlando for operations and logistics consulting.

Salazar also paid $1,500 directly to Google and Facebook for ads and listed about $1,900 worth of in-kind aid from Joe’s Stone Crab proprietor Steve Sawitz.

The rest of her spending covered travel, lodging, food, web services, office supplies, subscriptions and shipping.

Her campaign lists a $14,300 invoice for fundraising consulting from Texas-based Raider Fundraising as disputed.

Democratic Primary

Lamondin celebrated nearly matching Salazar and outraising Peguero in a Monday statement. He said his fundraising numbers from last quarter “reflect what we’re seeing every day: a community that is ready for something better and a campaign rising to meet the moment.”

“I’m incredibly proud of what we’re building — matching the incumbent, outraising our primary opponent, and proving that this race is winnable,” he said. “I’m deeply grateful to our thousands of supporters who have made this moment possible.”

EDGE Communications founder and President Christian Ulvert, Lamondin’s senior campaign adviser, called matching an incumbent member of Congress in a Q4 fundraising report a “big deal — especially in a district as competitive” as CD 27.

“The path to victory is very clear: Richard Lamondin is the challenger with the resources, message, and momentum to flip this seat,” he said.

Lamondin received 131 contributions averaging $1,808. Almost all were personal contributions through Democratic fundraising platform ActBlue. Several totaling $7,000 came from donors in and outside of Florida.

He also got two non-personal check donations: $5,000 from Save Democracy PAC, whose stated goal is “to confront and defeat Republican extremism up and down the ballot in the 2026 Midterm Election,” and $1,500 from the Duane Morris Government Committee.

Lamondin’s Q4 haul included a $50,000 self-loan. To date, he has put $145,000 from his bank account into his campaign coffers. Anything unspent from that sum is refundable.

As of Dec. 31, he has raised $689,600 and spent $256,243. That includes about $107,000 last quarter.

Most went to consulting, including $24,500 to Lake Worth-based MDW Communications for digital consulting, texts, advertising and list acquisitions; $17,267 to Miami-based EDGE Communications for strategic and software services; $2,000 to EDGE sister company WIN Canvass for canvassing; and $9,000 to Miami Shores-based GW Strategies for fundraising consulting.

The rest covered donation-processing fees, staff salaries, payroll taxes, printing, analytics and food.

Peguero’s campaign highlighted the fact that he raised far more via grassroots than Salazar did — $146,135 in Q4, compared to her $97,595. He called Salazar’s net $903 gains last quarter “an anemic figure for a three-time incumbent and further signs of tanking enthusiasm for her.”

“This campaign is about taking back power for the hardworking people of this district,” he said in a statement. “Every dollar we raise comes from people who are fed up with what is happening in our country and want a representative who will fight for our families and deliver real results for South Florida.”

Peguero also leaned heavily on ActBlue for much of his fundraising. Notable donors included former Miami Herald publisher and current Children’s Movement of Florida Chair David Lawrence, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Miami District Deputy Director Yasser Navarrete, ex-Congresswoman and former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Donna Shalala, former Miami-Dade Commissioner Katy Sorenson, former South Miami Mayor Philip Stoddard and former U.S. Attorney Wifredo Ferrer.

Coral Gables Democrats President Bentonne Snay and Jane Moskowitz, who serves as a Vice President of the organization along with Peguero, also donated.

Peguero’s PAC additions included $5,000 from the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, $2,000 from DreamPAC and $1,000 apiece from Latino Victory Fund, Lee PAC, PAC a PUNCH, Resilient Majority PAC and the Democracy Mobilization Project PAC.

Peguero raised $479,250 through the end of the year. He also spent 230,600, including $124,000 last quarter.

His biggest expenditure, $31,000, went to California-based FDM Connects for direct mail services. He also paid $21,500 to AL Media in Chicago for ads and close to $9,000 to Virginia-based Deliver Strategies for printing.

Consulting spending included $21,000 to Nineteen Sixty Campaigns in Chicago for campaign management, $13,500 to Washington-based Grassroots Analytics for digital fundraising services, $10,000 to Washington-based Switchboard Public Benefit Corp. for digital fundraising, and $10,000 to PCM LLC in Washington for accounting.

The rest covered donation processing, credit card-processing fees, postage, shipping, printing and software.

Fornino, meanwhile, reported raising $243. All but $43 was self-given. He also spent $1,235 on web and telecommunications costs, leaving $1,055 in his campaign account by New Year’s Day.

Candidates faced a Jan. 31 deadline to report all campaign finance activity through Dec. 31.