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Castor standing tall on fundraising in congressional campaign

By TIMES STAFF WRITERS
Published July 29, 2006

Hillsborough County Commissioner Kathy Castor continues to rake in the dough in her bid to replace Jim Davis in Congress as the District 11 representative.

She took in another nearly quarter-million to raise her total to $910,543, appearing to tap those Emily's List donors who funneled money into her mother's U.S. Senate campaign two years ago. She has outraised her four Democratic candidates combined.

More importantly, she still has $660,069 in the bank, more than three times her opponents' combined. That will give her that much more of edge in the blitzkrieg advertising days ahead.

State Sen. Les Miller raised $50,595 in the quarter through July and has $171,770 left in the bank. Lawyers Scott Farrell and Michael Steinberg took in $20,503 and $8,489 respectively. Farrell has $26,880 left, Steinberg, $2,295.

Al Fox, an activist for opening relations with Cuba, raised $38,418 in the quarter. Despite living in Washington, D.C. for the past 40 years, Fox has raised $245,056, a respectable total to date, largely propelled by friends he made in the district.

But he is adopting a risky strategy by spending almost all of his money on billboards, mailers and automated phone banks early. He has just $20,659 left.

Farrell has rolled out a pair of television spots. Both are relatively soft. One celebrates the diversity of the district, with Farrell promising to stand for the values shared by its residents, the other has him pledging to push for better security at the Port of Tampa. Both end with the catchy campaign song he commissioned.

FUNDRAISING LAG: Among other highlights from the quarterly reports, some political observers were surprised to see that Democrat Tom Scott raised just $11,400 in his first period of campaigning in his challenge of fellow Hillsborough Commissioner and Republican Mark Sharpe. Granted, he had only announced a month earlier.

However, many established candidates considering such a move will attempt to line up support ahead of time, to make a statement. Scott said he's never done that, making the decision solely on faith.

"By not having a primary, we will eventually get there," Scott said. "The only difficult thing is trying to do your job as a commissioner and be in a campaign at the same time."

Sharpe has raised $136,420.

VOTING HIS HEART? Speaking of Scott, he made a point when voting to support a $4,000 school impact fee hike this week that he was voting his heart and fulfilling a pledge to support an increase if an analysis showed it would help address overcrowded schools.

It seems he was also taking the vote off the table as a campaign issue, since Sharpe voted the same way.

Not so fast, says Scott. He said Sharpe has used stronger language in the past about being loathe to raise impact fees. "I never made that commitment," Scott said.

So will Scott slam Sharpe for essentially voting the same way he did? Stay tuned.

MATTERS OF GROWTH : A telling observation from the a political forum held in Tampa Heights Thursday night. Despite living in a neighborhood on the edge of downtown, those asking questions seemed particularly interested in the candidates' views about growth management and transportation.

Most of the candidates - from the District 3 County Commission race and the District 59 state House race - seemed to agree that government isn't doing a good job at managing growth and planning transportation fixes.

BACK IN THE DAY: Politicians love talking about "back in the day" when they romantically embellish a slower time when gas cost $1.50 a gallon.

But Betty Reed, a Democratic candidate for state House District 59, is doing more than just that. She's throwing a fundraiser party that conjures up the past. Reed is throwing a "Back in the Day! Throwback Party and FUNdraiser" on Saturday from 7 p.m. until 10 p.m. at the Good Luck Caf in Ybor City.

"Enjoy a trip down memory lane," says a flier for the fundraiser, which asks attendees to wear 1960s, 1970s, 1980s fashions. The party will feature a costume contest and R&B artist Lamar N. Robinson.

Donations will go toward Reed's campaign as she attempts to beat Hakim Aquil and Warren Hope Dawson in the primary.

Times staff writers Bill Varian and Justin George contributed to this report.

[Last modified July 29, 2006, 02:28:12]