The view remains the same in Northeast Florida’s 5th Congressional District.
As of the end of September, four-term incumbent John Rutherford[1] continues to dominate with donors.
The former Jacksonville Sheriff has $337,169 on hand, putting him well ahead of his only primary challenger to report financial activity, podcaster Mark Kaye.
Kaye has $5,106 on hand at last report.
While four Democrats have opened campaign accounts, three of them have reported no fundraising at all.
The other one, Peter Mark Heggestad, has raised less than $300.
Rutherford raised more than $83,000 in Q3, and more than $56,000 of that comes from individual contributors.
His associated “Strengthening the American Republic[2]” Leadership PAC also has nearly $33,000 on hand.
Kaye, who recently joked that Rutherford was “ready to retire[3],” continues to fall short of what he promised when he got in the race in terms of fundraising.
The challenger said earlier this year that “donations are pouring in from across the country,” and that he expects to “lean heavily on grassroots energy, digital outreach, and the loyal support of thousands of his listeners called ‘Kayetriots’ across Florida and beyond.”
Thus far, those supporters are pacing themselves.
The incumbent has faced Primaries consistently.
In 2022 and 2024, he got roughly 2/3 of the vote against conservative populist Mara Macie[4].
The district, which includes some of Duval and St. Johns counties, is designed for a Republican win in any General Election, with more than 250,000 GOP registrants and fewer than 145,000 Democrats.
References
- ^ John Rutherford (rutherford.house.gov)
- ^ Strengthening the American Republic (docquery.fec.gov)
- ^ ready to retire (x.com)
- ^ Mara Macie (floridapolitics.com)