In days, Citizens for a Better Citrus raised $120,885; its rival, $19,275. Some candidates didn't raise that much in their entire campaigns.
By AMY WIMMER SCHWARB
Published October 31, 2004
Political action committees formed in the last days before the election changed the fundraising landscape in Citrus this year, raising and spending more money in a two-week period than many candidates raised all year.
As the election approaches, the deep-pocketed Citizens for a Better Citrus and its rival, Truth in Political Advertising, have grabbed headlines as they traded negative ads about County Commission candidates Josh Wooten and Joyce Valentino.
Meanwhile, candidates are trying to decide how to strategize for Election Day, when a full third of Citrus voters would have already voted, either through early voting or absentee ballot.
The candidates' and political action committees' latest finance reports were due Friday afternoon.
The reports are voters' last chance before the election to see who is behind the candidates, and the numbers ran the gamut, from the highest-grossing local campaign - Sheriff Jeff Dawsy raised $63,251 for his re-election campaign - to candidates like Jimmy Carr, running for the District 1 County Commission seat, who financed his $25,000-plus campaign almost entirely with his own money.
Bruce Bellamy, a candidate for the District 5 School Board seat, stopped by the Supervisor of Elections Office in downtown Inverness on Friday to drop off his latest campaign treasurer's report.
He funded his campaign with $2,150, more than half of it out of his own pocket.
"People do what they've got to do," Bellamy said, "and I'm sure if I had enough money, I would have spent more. I hope I've showed to the people that it doesn't matter how much money you spend."
The political action committees, which didn't contribute directly to candidates but played a major role in the messages voters received about local hopefuls, put forth the most striking numbers.
Citizens for a Better Citrus, backed almost entirely by builders, subcontractors and real estate agents, raised $120,885 and spent $113,779.80 backing their chosen candidates: County Commission Chairman Josh Wooten, running as a Democrat for District 5; District 1 County Commission candidate Dennis Damato, a Republican; and John Barnes, the Democratic candidate for property appraiser.
"They had a tremendous amount of money," civic activist Jim Bitter said of Citizens for a Better Citrus.
"If a special-interest group can come up with this kind of money, then all seats on the County Commission will be up for sale."
The group, which formed Oct. 14 and, as a result, didn't have to reveal its financial backers until four days before the election, also spent money panning Wooten's opponent, Joyce Valentino, a Republican.
In response, a group called Truth in Political Advertising formed to back Valentino.
Founded by Bitter, of Homosassa, who contributed more than $10,000 of his own money to get it off the ground, the group raised $19,275 in its six days of existence. It spent the money on ads condemning Wooten.
