Campaign finance reports indicate U.S. Representative and Democratic candidate in Florida’s 2022 gubernatorial race Charlie Crist has amassed $5 million since his campaign announcement in early May.
Crist’s campaign, and political committee, Friends of Charlie Crist, announced Wednesday that there was more than $607,000 raised in the month of November, which ultimately led to the $5 million fundraising landmark.
The announcement highlighted that the $5 million was donated from more than 21,000 individual donors who have contributed to either Crist’s campaign or his political committee. While the total amount of funds raised was $5 million, after November’s fundraising report, Crist had $3.54 million on hand.
“From my hometown of St. Pete to the Panhandle and the Keys, I am humbled to see that our campaign’s message of a Florida for all Floridians is connecting with millions of our fellow neighbors looking for change and a path forward,” Crist said in a statement according to a report by Florida Politics.
He added, “I remain thankful for the strength of support we have received and for those who are joining us in the fight against Governor DeSantis. Our campaign is energized and ready to get to work for Floridians. Together, we will flip Florida blue in 2022.”
Crist’s fundraising data was released early by his campaign committee prior to official numbers being filed by all candidates wit the Florida Division of Election (FDE) which will be released to the public on Friday.
According to a report by The Florida Capital Star, the last time each Democratic candidate filed financial data was for October. Those reports indicated that Crist was ahead of both of his opponents, Florida Senator Annette Taddeo and Florida Agricultural Commissioner Nikki Fried. By the end of October, Crist had $3.18 million cash on hand, while Fried and Taddeo had $2.51 million and $627,000 cash on hand, respectively. Friday’s data for each candidate will show whether Crist’s financial lead increased or decreased.
If Crist continues to be the Democratic front-runner, he will have to make up a little more than $59 million in cash on hand to catch up to the campaign funds raised by Governor Ron DeSantis – whose campaign finance report will also be released on Friday.
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Casey Owens is a contributing writer for The Florida Capital Star. Follow him on Twitter at @cowensreports. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Charlie Christ” by Congressman Charlie Crist.
