St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch continues to struggle with fundraising for his re-election campaign less than four weeks from Election Day.
Welch’s latest fundraising to his campaign and affiliated political committee failed to even reach five-figures in the most recent reporting period covering Sept. 26 through Oct. 2. Welch raised a total of just $9,650 between both accounts, including $8,500 to his PC, St. Petersburg Progress, and $1,150 to his campaign.
That’s about a tenth what Welch’s challenger, former Gov. Charlie Crist, raised during the same period.
Two things make Welch’s lagging fundraising even more problematic than just dollars and cents.
First, there’s cash on hand. Welch is nearly out of money, with just $13,507 left in his campaign account as of Oct. 2, and a little less than $28,000 left in his affiliated committee, for a total cash-on-hand balance of just over $41,000. Crist, meanwhile, maintains nearly $411,000 between both his accounts, including $156,551 remaining in his campaign account and $254,215 in his St. Pete Shines political committee. The six-figure deficit means Welch lacks the resources moving forward to share his message with voters as they begin returning mail ballots and prepare for early voting to begin on Oct. 19.
That’s the second major issue with Welch’s lackluster fundraising to date.
Already, Welch has consistently been at a disadvantage in paid messaging. In the most recent one-week reporting period, St. Pete Shines forked over more than $66,000 for a media buy and another more than $36,000 for mailers. Welch’s largest expense was a little over $3,000 to the Florida Democratic Party to cover payroll expenses. Nothing was spent on direct voter outreach, such as digital media buys or mailers.
Meanwhile, Welch’s fundraising appears to have largely dried up. His campaign account took in just one maxed out contribution of $1,000, and just two others for $100 and $50. St. Petersburg Progress similarly collected just three contributions — $4,000 from developer Tyler Herbert, the same person who donated $1,000 to the Welch campaign; $2,500 from real estate professional Marshall Funk; and $2,000 from St. Pete attorney Ryan Griffin.
That means Welch identified just four donors in the most recent fundraising push, at a time when campaigns are digging deep to cross the finish line strong on Nov. 3.
Welch had briefly enjoyed a fundraising surge, thanks to a $25,000 contribution from developer John Catsimatidis two reporting periods ago, but that surge ended quickly in last week’s finance reports, in which Welch raised just $11,500 between both funding accounts, a pittance compared to the $103,000 Crist raised in the same period.
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Ed. note: Michelle Todd Schorsch is the Chair of St. Pete Shines, a political committee backing Crist for St. Petersburg Mayor. Todd Schorsch is married to Peter Schorsch, the publisher of Florida Politics.