Republican consultant Vicki Lopez had just six days to fundraise after launching her campaign in late March. But she made sure to put in plenty of her own cash, stacking $52,000 toward her bid for the vacant seat representing Senate District 38.
All but $1,000 of that sum came from a self-loan. The former Lee County Commissioner directly loaned her campaign $50,000. Her business, VLL Consulting, gave another $1,000.
The remainder came from Donald Wolfe III, a former aide to Miami-Dade County Commissioner Xavier Suarez who now advises the city of Miami, according to his LinkedIn page.
As of March 31, Lopez hasn't spent a cent from her campaign account or political committee, Common Sense Government.
She'll need several more rounds of healthy fundraising to catch up to her lone SD 38 opponent, first-time candidate Janelle Perez, a Democratic business owner and active member of the South Florida LGBTQ community.
Perez has proven herself a deft fundraiser since early August, when she filed to run against incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. MarÃa Elvira Salazar — a race she left soon after for a shot at a seat in the Florida Legislature's upper chamber.
To date, Perez has raised close to $387,000 and spent just over $27,000. Last month, she took in more than $10,000 between her campaign account and political committee, Democracy and Freedom, which veteran Democratic consultant Christian Ulvert runs.
Perez said she wanted to run a grassroots campaign leaning heavily on donations from real people, and her gains last month reflect that. One hundred people donated to her campaign last month, each giving between $5 and $1,000.
Noteworthy donors included former South Miami Mayor Philip Stoddard and former Miami-Dade Commissioner Kathryn Sorenson, who each gave $250. Lawyer Adele Valencia, a former director of code compliance for the city of Miami and staffer for Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, gave $50.
Perez's largest single donation came from Florida for Everyone, a political committee chaired by Raymond Paultre. Paultre is the executive director of the Florida Alliance, a secretive group of high-value Democratic donors.
The Florida Democratic Party gave Perez more than $7,000.
LPAC, a political committee backing LGBTQ women, donated $500. Ruth's List Florida and the Janet McAliley Trust each gave $250. Janet McAliley is a former Miami-Dade School Board member and current board member of the Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center.
Perez spent about $5,500 last month, nearly half of which went toward a sponsorship fee for the NAACP South Dade Branch.
She paid senior outreach pro Nicole Arango $800 and spent roughly $340 on fundraising and credit card fees. Another $109 went to Philadelphia-based Spruce Street Consulting.
Perez also repaid herself $1,700.
Post-redistricting, SD 38 covers several coastal Miami-Dade municipalities, including Cutler Bay, Palmetto Bay, Pinecrest, South Miami, parts of Homestead and Coral Gables, and the unincorporated neighborhoods of Goulds, Kendall, Sunset, Perrine, Redland and Westchester.
Candidates faced a Monday deadline to report all campaign finance activity through March 31.
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