House 28 finances: Opponent solicits all of Daytona Beach

While Dorothy Hukill (R-Port Orange) has been moving legislation in Tallahassee, her (seriously) underdog opponent in the upcoming election seems to have been working a grassroots fund-raising operation.

Teresa Valdes, running as a Republican, has put together some decent funds from what looks to be a large number of individual, mostly non-business donors.

According to finance data from the Florida Division of Elections, all but 12 of Valdes’ 128 contributions came from individuals with residential addresses mostly in Daytona Beach and Ponce Inlet, major parts of District 28.

The Florida Agent Political Action Network, “an issue-based organization founded by State Farm Agents,” contributed $500, as did Volusia County-based retailer John’s Appliance City and Remax All-Pro Realty.

Kenney Broadcasting Corporation, which may or may not be a golf-supply distributor, gave $100, High Maintenance salon in Holly Hill gave $35 and Stonewood Bar and Grill gave $30.

Six other contributions came from Valdes.

The rest came from individuals’ donations that ranged from $10 to $500. Most of them were $50.

Although her grand total of about $20,000 looks less impressive than Hukill’s roughly $70,000, the latter accepted nearly $25,000 from various PACs.

–Holly Kane

Campaign finances for Collier Commission candidates

They say money makes the world go round.

If that’s the case, check out how fast the District 2 County Commissioner candidates’ worlds are spinning after their first quarter finances were reported to the Collier County Supervisor of Elections last week.

Georgia Hiller is far ahead with about  $30,000 raised in the first three months of 2010 and just over $63,000 in monetary and in kind contributions since she started campaigning in July. Nearly $52,000 of her total came from Naples residents and about $8,000, or about 12 percent of her total, is from outside Florida, namely Delaware, Minnesota and Ohio. Additionally, she received about $14,000 in donations from businesses.

Joe Foster is next in line. He raised just over $12,000 in the first three months of the year and has raised about $36,000 since March 2009, when he announced he was running. About $31,000, or 87 percent, of his total was raised from Naples residents and businesses donated about $6,000 to his campaign. The majority of Foster’s donors who listed their occupations were either attorneys, retired or in the construction business.