Putnam, Graham lead field for governor’s race cash

TALLAHASSEE — Republican Adam Putnam and Democrat Gwen Graham continued to hold financial edges over their opponents in the 2018 race for governor last month, but potential candidate House Speaker Richard Corcoran is quickly building up cash, new reports show.

Putnam, the state’s twoterm agriculture commissioner, brought in $313,565 for his campaign in August, while a closely aligned political committee, known as Florida Grown, raised $726,634, according to the reports posted on the state Division of Elections website.

Putnam formally started his gubernatorial bid in May, and the campaign and the political committee have combined to bring in more than $1 million each month since the announcement. Helping boost the numbers in August were contributions to Florida Grown totaling $260,000 from PACs linked to the business group Associated Industries of Florida.

In all, Florida Grown, which was formed in 2015, had about $11.36 million on hand as of Aug. 31, while Putnam’s campaign had about $1.68 million.

On the Democratic side, Graham, a former North Florida congresswoman, raised $241,721 for her campaign in August, while an allied political committee, known as Our Florida, raised $119,547, the reports show.

Graham’s campaign had $736,185 on hand as of the end of the month, while Our Florida had nearly $1.72 million.

State political candidates and committees faced a Monday deadline for filing reports disclosing their financial activity through August. The new reports also offer a glimpse of the shape of the high-stakes governor’s race a year before the August 2018 primaries.

Putnam and Senate Appropriations Chairman Jack Latvala, R-Clearwater, are the two major announced candidates in the GOP primary. Latvala formally launched his campaign in August, but he has long been tied with a political committee known as the Florida Leadership Committee.

That committee raised $272,154 in August and had slightly more than $4 million on hand as of the end of the month.