First Post-Primary Filing Period Ends

The most recent campaign finance period ended on Friday, September 15th. The filing will cover the time between September 1st and 15th and is the first filing to cover contributions received after the September 5th primary. Reports are not due until September 22nd. To examine contributions, visit the Florida Division of Elections website.

One of the races worth following in the area is the race for HD 52. Incumbent Frank Farkas lost his primary for SD 16. Two years ago, he struggled against Democrat Liz McCallum to hold onto a seat that is relatively evenly split between Democrats and Republicans.

The Republican nominee is Angelo Cappelli and the Democrat is former USF St. Petersburg CEO, Bill Heller. Heller joined the race late, defeating 2004 the nominee in the primary. Even though Cappelli was the leading fundraiser in the district of any party, Heller set a record for the state for the most raised by a House candidate in a single quarter - and he did over a single month, having only entered the race for the last month of the filing period beginning April 1st and ending June 30th.

Now that the primary is over, what will their fundraising look like? Will they be able to maintain the same pace and exhibit the same level of success?