Robin Peguero outpaces María Elvira Salazar in CD 27 fundraising, tops closest Primary foe 3-to-1 in outside cash

Democrat Robin Peguero is gaining financially on Republican U.S. Rep. María Elvira Salazar, whom he hopes to unseat next year in Florida’s 27th Congressional District.

During the third quarter — his first quarter running — Peguero, a former federal prosecutor, stacked more than $330,000.

Salazar, meanwhile, raised $214,500. Two other Democrats in the race, entrepreneur Richard Lamondin and accountant Alex Fornino, added $202,300 and $3,400 to their campaign coffers, respectively. Lamondin’s haul included a $95,000 self-loan.

Peguero’s campaign lauded the haul as proof that CD 27 is indeed “in play^[1],” as the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has designated it, and that support for Salazar among district voters and donors is waning.

“Our Congresswoman has been more focused on currying favor with her party bosses in D.C. than working for our families here in Miami. And now it’s clear: Her donors are abandoning her,” Peguero said in a statement.

“She’s been in lockstep with the administration as it rips immigrant families apart — while doing nothing to secure our border. She’s been silent while shutting down the government and forcing workers to come in without pay. As health care for hundreds of thousands of constituents is on the brink. As the price of groceries and home insurance keeps rising. It’s an honor to have the support of so many people across South Florida — and our call to action could not be clearer.”

Peguero’s campaign credited “more than 2,500 donors” for his gains. Federal Election Commission records list 715 itemized receipts between July 1 and Sept. 30, most for $500 or less.

His biggest gains included $7,000 apiece from health care and real estate mogul Miguel “Mike” Fernandez and five of his family members — the maximum sum allowable, representing $3,500 each for the Primary and General Elections.

Peguero also received the same amount from Renato Giorgini, the President and CEO of flower company Rio Roses^[2], and $3,500 from Texas lawyers Matthew Cavenaugh and Caitlin Halpern, Massachusetts lawyer Daniel Kanter, retired Coral Gables Ophthalmology professor Paul Palmberg, retired Coral Gables doctor Isabel Rico, New York lawyer Owen Roberts and New York law firm Susman Godfrey.

He also accepted $5,000 from Higher Ground PAC^[3], a Democratic leadership political action committee.

Peguero spent close to $107,000 in the third quarter on consulting fees, digital fundraising services, list acquisition, software, media services and campaign fundraising fees.

As of Oct. 1, he had more than $223,000 left to spend.

Salazar received less than half the number of donations Peguero got last quarter, but a larger share of what she took came from business and political contributions or personal checks at the donation limit.

Her corporate contributors included the political arms of American Airlines, Bank of America, Burger King, Citigroup, First American Bank, Goldman Sachs, the Humane Society, McGuireWoods, MetLife, Morgan Stanley, PriceWaterhouseCooper, Publix, Sony Music, Universal Music, Visa, and Warner Music.

She also received four-figure sums from the American Bankers Association, American Hotel and Lodging Association, American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, National Roofing Contractors Association, National Shooting Sports Foundation, and the Recording Industry Association of America, among others.

Delivers PAC^[4], a leadership political action committee affiliated with U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra of Iowa, doubled its prior contributions to Salazar this cycle to $10,000. In the Arena PAC^[5], a leadership PAC affiliated with U.S. Rep. French Hill of Arkansas, did the same.

Salazar also transferred $27,649 more from her joint fundraising committee, Salazar Victory Committee, for a total of $128,181 shifted to her regular campaign account this cycle. GOP Winning Women 2026^[6], another joint fundraising committee to which she’s party, transferred $3,328 more to her, also doubling what it previously gave her.

Those who sent maxed-out personal contributors to Salazar include Miami glass executive Jose Daes, whose family business saw its shares tank in late 2021^[7] after now-shuttered short-seller Hindenburg Research^[8] issued a report accusing the company, Technoglass, of having ties to the Cali Cartel^[9].

His nephew Samir Amin Daes gave $7,000 too, as did a company manager named Andres Chamorro and a woman named Stefanie Certain with the same address as Samir Amin Daes.

In August 2023, Technoglass relocated^[10] from Colombia to Miami.

Equally sized donations came from retired Miami Beach lawyer, investor and lobbyist David Flory, and his wife, Realtor Juliet Flory. Last year, Flory gave $100,000 to U.S. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard’s PAC, Defend Freedom Inc., and $25,000 to Florida Highway Patrol Trooper Joe Sanchez’s campaign^[11] for Miami-Dade County Sheriff.

Other $7,000 contributions came from Douglas Kimmelman of Energy Capital Partners, National Debt Relief CEO Alex Kleyner, General Atlantic CEO William Ford, DataRemote owner Timor Brik and North Miami dentist Jose Mellado.

Salazar spent more than she raised last quarter — $268,500 — leaving her with $1.64 million left in her war chest by Sept. 30, not counting $14,300 in debt to Texas-based Raiders Fundraisers^[12].

The lion’s share of her spending covered a variety of consulting costs, from communications, political strategy and digital fundraising to legal, finance, compliance and accounting.

She donated $20,000 to Healed for Life^[13], a Port St. Lucie-based nonprofit run by pastor, author and speaker Jo Naughton^[14], and $3,000 to National Community Church in Washington, D.C.

Other spending covered phone fees, event rental and catering costs, office supplies, insurance, travel, lodging, food, shipping, advertising, subscriptions, list rentals and donation processing fees.

Lamondin’s haul included $107,300 in outside donations and a $95,000 self-loan his campaign didn’t mention when it announced its numbers^[15] in early October.

All of the 107 donations he received last quarter came from people, not businesses or political organizations, and 75% of them came from Florida, mostly in CD 27.

He also spent $93,000. Of that, nearly a quarter went to Miami-based EDGE Communications for strategic consulting, software, mailing and event costs; $21,000 paid for staff and related costs; and $14,000 was paid to Lake Worth-based MDW Communications for text messages, digital consulting and advertising.

The rest went to compliance and treasury services, fundraising consulting, canvassing, legal services, photography, travel, printing, voter file access and donation processing fees.

By Oct. 1, he had $303,500 left to spend.

All but $250 of Fornino’s Q3 gains were self-given. He also spent about $2,000, leaving roughly the same total in his campaign account heading into the last quarter of 2024.

In terms of total receipts this cycle, Salazar still leads the pack with $681,400 in donations since she won re-election last year by nearly 21 points. Lamondin is behind her with $452,700 raised, followed by Peguero with $330,000 and Fornino with $24,700. Former Key Biscayne Mayor Mike Davey, who was also competing in the Democratic Primary, raised $45,200 before he dropped out and endorsed Peguero^[16] in August.

CD 27 covers Miami, Coral Gables, Cutler Bay, Key Biscayne, Pinecrest, North Bay Village, South Miami, West Miami and several unincorporated areas.

Candidates faced a Wednesday deadline to report all campaign finance activity through Sept. 30.