Carla Spalding
abandoned his plan for a rematch against Wasserman Schultz in the Democratic primary and is running in November as a no party affiliation candidate, struggled with fundraising in the first quarter of 2018. Canova raised $58,000 in the first quarter but spent even more. Records show he had a cash balance of $10,758 at the end of the quarter. The reason he has that much: $10,000 in new loans of his own money to the campaign.
Carlos Reyes, who launched his campaign for the Republican nomination with a plan to raise millions of dollars, also has run into fundraising problems. He took in $49,252 in the most recent quarter — and spent more than double that amount. The only reason he showed a cash balance of $32,045 on March 31 is $33,000 of loans he gave his campaign during the first quarter.
The Broward/Miami-Dade County 23rd Congressional District is solidly Democratic. The nonpartisan Cook Political Report rates the district as “D+11.” That means it preformed 11 points more Democratic than the nation as a whole in the last two presidential contests.
And the flow of money shows that the big money donors don’t see the district as competitive. Combined, five candidates raised $535,000 in the first quarter.
By contrast, the three candidates in the much closer 18th Congressional District in northern Palm Beach, Martin and St. Lucie counties, collected a combined
She’s been making the rounds of Republican events — and appealing to some of the most conservative, anti-establishment parts of the Republican Party. She recently tweeted support for Trump, whom she called “an outstanding world leader!” and criticism of James Comey, the FBI director fired by Trump, whom Spalding said “is not a real man on my list. He is a coward!”
Spalding has been repeatedly featured on the controversial Infowars conspiracy-theory website, whose founder is notorious for repeatedly claiming that the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre — in which 26 children and adults were killed — is a hoax perpetrated by opponents of the Second Amendment.
She’s also been promoted by Roger Stone, the Fort Lauderdale political operator who’s an adviser to Trump and was an adviser to former President Richard Nixon. During one of Stone’s interviews with Spalding on Infowars, he incorrectly stated Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School is in the district she hopes to represent; Spalding didn’t correct him.
She has some establishment support. She was endorsed this month by Stanley Tate, the Florida real estate developer, philanthropist, big-time Republican political contributor and founder of Florida’s pre-paid college tuition program. Tate so dislikes Wasserman Schultz that he spurred the cancellation of an invitation for her to speak at Greater Miami election season.
Spalding, a nurse and teacher, has been running in the 23rd Congressional District for months, but she’s a recent transplant to the district from Palm Beach County. Voter registration records show she switched her voter registration to Plantation, in the district, on Dec. 29.
During the 2016 campaign, Spalding ran as a Republican candidate in the district now represented by Brian Mast, R-Palm City. She ended up running as a no party affiliation candidate for the job and received 3 percent of the vote.
Spalding raised $212,782, spent $139,362, and ended the quarter with $85,057 in cash. Temple Israel of during the 2012 run as a no party affiliation candidate in November.
Canova, a Hollywood resident, is a professor of law and public finance at Nova Southeastern University. Voter registration records show he changed his party from Democratic to NPA on April 11.
Financial records show Canova is raising far less than in his last effort, when he had $461,000 cash in the bank on March 31, 2016.
In the first quarter of 2018, Canova raised $58,064, spent $62,463, and had a cash balance of $10,758 on March 31. Canova’s campaign is $45,000 in debt from money he’s loaned to his campaign committee.