Posey, Blythe fund-raising leaders in bid to win Weldon’s seat in Congress
Friday, July 18, 2008
Posey, Blythe fund-raising leaders in bid to win Weldon’s seat in Congress
By Jim Turner
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
State Sen. Bill Posey, R-Rockledge, maintained an even collection pace, amassing $220,521 for his run for Florida’s 15th District in Congress, as the Federal Elections Commission began to post candidates’ second-quarter finance reports Wednesday.
Meanwhile in the Democrat race for the seat, Melbourne physician Stephen Lee Blythe had $8,789 to spend at the end of the quarter. He raised $17,023 in the quarter to bring his contribution total to $39,372.
His primary opponent, Paul Rancatore, a pilot with American Airlines and the chief operating officer for I-Tex Wireless, reported his campaign picked up $12,090 in the quarter, raising his contribution total to $53,775.
The totals for Rancatore, who withdrew from the race in October to tend to his mother then re-entered just before the June qualifying deadline, includes $13,686 of his own money.
For Posey, he has now raised $487,020 since U.S. Rep. Dave Weldon, R-Indialantic, surprised his constituents in January by announcing he would step down after what will be 14 years in Congress.
Of that amount, Posey — who has the backing of Weldon and state GOP leaders — had $309,989 on hand to start the quarter after spending $147,957 between April 1 and June 30, according to reports available Wednesday on the Federal Elections Commission’s Web site.
The district includes parts of Brevard, Osceola and Polk counties and all of Indian River County.
The reports from the other two candidates in the race, Indialantic businessman Alan Bergman and Fellsmere importer executive Kevin Lehoullier, were not available as of 4 p.m. At the end of the first quarter, Bergman has raised $2,048. Lehoullier didn’t submit a report.
Reports were also unavailable Wednesday afternoon from the two independent candidates Trevor Lowing, a resident of Satellite Beach who has worked in the local defense, space and technology industries, and Frank Zilaitis, a former assistant state attorney.
Scripps Lighthouse
© 2008 Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers
