Deutch opponent rakes in money

Manjarres shows fundraising ability

Javier Manjarres is showing some financial strength in his effort to unseat Congressman Ted Deutch — a sign the race could be the best funded challenge since Deutch was first elected in 2010.

Federal Election Commission filings show the super political action committee formed last year to lay the groundwork for Republican Manjarres’ congressional campaign raised $323,000 in the first three months of 2018.

Deutch, the Democratic incumbent who represents most of Broward and southeast Palm Beach County, raised $190,500.

A head-to-head comparison isn’t precise.

Manjarres wasn’t raising money directly for his campaign, which didn’t become formal until April 2. Until then he was working on behalf of the super PAC. America First Agenda spent most of what it raised and had $69,000 in the bank on March 31.

Besides showing his ability to raise money – the 2017 total was $317,000 – the spending on political strategists and fundraising infrastructure could turn into a useful assist during the 2018 campaign.

Deutch has spent much of

the last two months responding to the Marjory Stoneman Douglas shooting in Parkland, which is in the heart of his congressional district. Activities such as public and private meetings with the families of the victims and survivors, and speaking out on gun violence in South Florida, in Washington, D.C., and on television, meant curtailing fundraising activities.

It’s impossible to tell from the report how much Deutch’s campaign may have been hurt by his inability to raise money as heavily as usual – or how much it might have benefited financially from his exposure on national television. In the first quarter of his three previous re-election campaigns, Deutch raised an average of $147,000, compared with the $190,500 in the first three months of 2018.

Deutch spent $112,000 from January through March and had $358,500 cash at the end of March, according to the report filed Sunday with the Federal Election Commission.

Independent analysts don’t see Deutch, who is serving his fifth term, as vulnerable. The nonpartisan Inside Elections political report and Sabato’s Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics both list the 22nd Congressional District as safely Democratic.

And the nonpartisan Cook Political Report lists the district as “D+6.” That means that in the last two presidential elections, the district performed 6 points more Democratic than the nation as a whole.

In 2016, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump won Florida by 1.2 percentage points, but Democrat Hillary Clinton won the 22nd Congressional District by 16 points.

Two other Republicans have expressed interest in seeking their party’s nomination to challenge Deutch. Nicolas Kimaz reported raising $10,800 in the first quarter and Paul Spain reported raising $2,608.