Rick Roth stays self-reliant, David Silvers taps Disney dollars in Q1 fundraising for SD 26 seat

Former Reps. Rick Roth and David Silvers both added five-figure sums to their respective war chests toward winning the Senate District 26 seat in Palm Beach County last quarter.

Their approaches to fundraising differed notably.

Roth raised $56,175 through his campaign account. All but $6,175 of that sum was self-loaned.

Silvers, meanwhile, collected about $45,500 through his campaign account and political committee, more than 20% of which came from a PC funded partially by Disney dollars.

Roth, a Republican, and Silvers, a Democrat, are competing to succeed Senate Democratic Leader Lori Berman, who must leave office due to term limits after serving in the upper chamber since 2018.

Roth, who represented the county in the House from 2016 to 2024, has added $349,000 to his coffers since leaving office — $250,000 of which came from his bank account.

As in prior reporting periods, a sizable share of the donations given last quarter to Roth, a third-generation farmer, came from the agriculture industry.

That included $1,000 from William Kennedy Farms in Belle Glade, $850 from Orlando-based Howard Fertilizer and $800 from Mecca Family Farms in Lake Worth.

He also spent $55,500 between Jan. 1 and March 31, the preponderance of which — $45,000 — went to the American Conservative Union Foundation, whose stated goal is to “educate voters, office-holders and opinion leaders as to why conservative principles work better to solve problems.”

Roth also gave $500 to the Republican Party of Palm Beach County and paid $10,000 to Los Angeles-based Stealth Strategies Group for consulting services. The rest of his spending covered donation-processing fees.

As of April 1, Roth had $168,200 left to spend between his campaign account and political committee, Palm Beach Prosperity Fund, which reported no financial activity last quarter.

Silvers, who served during the same time span as Roth, has raised $266,000 this cycle, including a $25,000 self-loan in June 2025.

His gains last quarter included a $10,000 check from Brighter Florida, a PC funded by Disney, General Motors, Progressive, the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association, and the Florida Operators Association.

Voters for Economic Growth, a PC whose contributions since 2025 came solely from the Florida Chamber of Commerce, gave Silvers $5,000. So did AT&T.

Silvers also got $4,000 from lobbyist Ron Book and $2,500 apiece from Tenet Health, Trulieve Inc., Comcast, The Doctors Company PAC and Skyway Underwriters.

He spent close to $12,000 in Q1 on campaign consulting from Tallahassee-based ENH Industries and Tampa-based Renaissance Campaign Strategies, donation-processing fees, and event ticket costs paid to West Palm Beach-based Cornerstone Solutions.

Heading into April, Silvers had more than $168,000 on hand.

A third candidate, Republican Steven Iacullo, reported no financial activity in the fourth quarter of 2025 and failed to file a Q1 report by the state’s Friday deadline, Division of Elections records show.

SD 26 covers a southern portion of Palm Beach County, spanning the inland municipalities of Belle Glade, Golf, South Bay and Wellington; coastal Briny Breezes, Delray Beach, Highland Beach and Ocean Ridge; and a northern part of Boca Raton.

The 2026 Primary is Aug. 18, followed by the General Election on Nov. 3.