Mike Redondo stacks $281K to defend HD 118 seat against 2 meagerly funded challengers

Miami Republican Rep. Mike Redondo raked in more than $281,000 between April 1 and June 12 toward defending his seat representing House District 118, where a pair of challengers with minimal funding are running to supplant him.

He nearly wiped out that haul, too, spending $260,000 through the month’s halfway point, by which time his Primary opponent, educator Marco Insua, reported raising $100 through one donation.

Democrat Armando “A.C.” Castillo, who filed for the contest May 12, reported no campaign finance activity.

Both challengers paid the state’s $1,782 qualifying fee, while the incumbent qualified by petition.

Redondo, who is on track to be House Speaker in 2030, leaned heavily on donors from the healthcare, real estate, tech and insurance sectors while pulling in cash through his campaign account and political committee, The Right Path for Florida.

He also reported ample in-kind contributions, including $29,000 from the Florida House Republican Campaign Committee for staff expenses; $17,430 for hotel, transportation and other costs associated with the Formula 1 Grand Prix event in Miami last month from Atlanta-headquartered fantasy sports company PrizePicks; and $340 for tickets to an Inter Miami CF game from the team’s ownership.

Tied for his biggest single contribution was a $50,000 check from Faisal Gill, CEO and Chair of the Florida arm of Healthcare Systems of America. Other donations from the industry included $25,000 from the Tallahassee-based Safety Net Hospital Alliance and $5,000 apiece from Miami home healthcare company Independent Living Systems and Nathan Elias, an executive with California-based senior care company WelbeHealth.

From real estate, Redondo took $20,000 from a handful of companies associated with Miami Beach-based Redwood Dev Co. and $10,000 each from Los Angeles-based Post Real Estate Group and MasTec, an engineering and construction firm whose principals, Jorge and Jose Mas, are part owners of Inter Miami CF.

Facebook and Instagram parent Meta gave Redondo $10,000. Cybersecurity company ID.me chipped in $2,500.

Arizona-based First American Title Insurance donated $15,000. Skyway Underwriters, located in St. Petersburg, gave $10,000.

Other notable donations included $50,000 from the political arm of the Florida Justice Association (Redondo is a personal injury lawyer), $25,000 from Southern Glazer’s Wine and Spirits and $10,000 apiece from the Florida Bankers Association, lobbyist Michael Corcoran’s Building a Better Florida political committee and FPF Fire PC, the political committee of Florida Professional Firefighters.

The bulk of Redondo’s spending went to party and candidate contributions.

He gave $100,000 to the Florida House Republican Campaign and $60,000 to the Republican Party of Florida.

He also gave $1,000 apiece to 24 other candidates: fellow Republican Reps. Jon Albert, Yvette Benarroch, Omar Blanco, Erika Booth, Ryan Chamberlin, Nan Cobb, Bill Conerly, Richard Gentry, Anne Gerwig, Sam Greco, J.J. Grow, Chad Johnson, Kim Kendall, Jennifer Kincart Jonsson, Monique Miller, Danny Nix, Vanessa Oliver, Mike Owen, Bill Partington, Judson Sapp, Josie Tomkow and Megan Weinberger; Miami-Dade School Board Chair Mari Tere Rojas; and Destiny Alvarez, who is who is running to unseat a Miami-Dade Judge who temporarily blocked the transfer of prime downtown Miami Dade College land for a planned Donald Trump presidential library last year.

Tallahassee-based Capital Resources collected almost $56,000 combined for consulting, while Simwins in Tampa took $7,700 for text messaging, design and web services. Redondo also reimbursed a person named Adrian Rodriguez roughly $5,100 for travel, meals, lodging and parking.

Redondo won his HD 118 seat in a 2023 Special Election with close to 52% of the vote. He won a full, two-year term the following year by a 36.6-percentage-point margin.

HD 118 covers a narrow, unincorporated strip of South Miami-Dade west of Florida’s Turnpike between Sweetwater and Cutler Bay.

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