Posted on Thu, Jul. 07, 2005
2006 GOVERNOR'S RACE
GOP campaign coffers runneth over
In the dash for cash, Republican gubernatorial candidates were well on their way to setting a record, with Charlie Crist touting a $3.8 million take in the past quarter.
BY LESLEY CLARK
lclark@herald.com
Jaws dropped last week when Tom Gallagher, the state's chief financial officer, reported raising $3 million in his race for the Republican nomination for governor.
Now Florida Attorney General Charlie Crist has topped Gallagher, pulling in $3.8 million in six weeks.
The total raised by the two Republicans 14 months before the September 2006 primary sets up what is likely to be a heated, high-profile contest and the most expensive governor's race in Florida history.
Crist's take sets a quarterly fundraising record, and the two Republicans together have already raised nearly as much money as Gov. Jeb Bush did during his entire 1998 campaign -- at a time when Bush's brother was governor of Texas and his father a former president.
Crist's fundraising included a New York City event hosted by developer Donald Trump, as well as a single event in Tampa that brought in $1.1 million.
(snip/...)
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/12072440.htm(Free registration required)
Crist and Jeb Bush, Tom Gallagher and Jeb Bush, and Christ and Gallagher.