Florida Congresswoman Val Demings (D-FL-10) announced on social media that her senate campaign raised more than $ 7 million during the last four months of 2021. Demings thanked her contributors in her message.
“The momentum is real,” Demings said. “More than 300,000 people have heard our message, seen our vision, and have chipped in to our campaign. Thank you for believing in me.”
The momentum is real. More than 300,000 people have heard our message, seen our vision, and have chipped in to our campaign.
Thank you for believing in me. pic.twitter.com/l4nCOJjrKX
— Val Demings (@valdemings) January 30, 2022
Demings is seeking to unseat Florida Sen. Marco Rubio (R) in the 2022 general election in November. She has outpaced Rubio in quarterly fundraising for three quarters in a row, however, Rubio still holds the overall advantage with approximately $10.6 million on hand. Demings’ total now rises to $8.2 million.
Demings’ campaign manager, Zack Carroll, said her campaign is grateful for each supporter.
“We are so grateful for every supporter who has stepped up to beat career politician Marco Rubio and send Chief Demings to the United States Senate,” said Carroll. “Our campaign is building a grassroots movement in every corner of this state that’s fired up and ready to hold Rubio accountable for failing to fight for Florida’s working families. With our fundraising, we are taking our message to every voter and leaving no community behind in our historic fight for Florida. We’ve built strong momentum, and the army of grassroots donors supporting Chief Demings will continue to drive this campaign to victory in November.”
Back in November, Americans for Public Trust, a campaign watchdog group, filed a complaint with the Federal Elections Commission charging Demings and her campaign with accepting in-kind contributions of fundraising services from the campaign of former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D). The contributions are a violation of the soft-money ban in the Federal Election Campaign Act, according to the group.
The group provided proof of the violation by highlighting a 12-page mail piece touting Demings’ accomplishments paid for with taxpayer dollars. The piece of mail was sent outside of her congressional district.
“Federal law strictly prohibits Members of Congress from sending mass mailings outside of their elected congressional district. Additionally, the Rules of the House of Representatives, the House Commission on Communications Standards, and the Committee on House Administration all reinforce this prohibition. In this instance, Representative Demings has demonstrated an audacious willingness to violate all prohibitions against sending franked mail outside of her district.”
Carroll dismissed the complaint when it was filed.
“This is a partisan and frivolous complaint that is completely without merit, as the FEC has already signed off on this common email fundraising practice, which is used by hundreds of Republican and Democratic campaigns across the country,” Carroll said.
The race between Rubio and Demings will likely be one of the most expensive elections in the country. Last time Rubio had to fight off a challenger was in 2016 against then-Rep. Patrick Murphy (D). The total price tag of the 2016 campaign was $110 million.
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Grant Holcomb is a reporter at The Florida Capital Star and The Star News Network. Follow Grant on Twitter and direct message tips.
Photo “Rep. Val Demings” by Albert Harris-Russell.
