With Senate Appropriations Chairman Jack Latvala weighing a run for governor, a Latvala political committee has raised more than $225,000 in July, according to the committee's website.
Latvala, R-Clearwater, is expected to announce next month whether he will run in 2018 to try to succeed term-limited Gov. Rick Scott.
The Latvala political committee, known as the “Florida Leadership Committee,” raised $225,500 from July 1 through Tuesday, a list of contributions on the website shows. Among the large contributions were $50,000 from Sterling Diversified, LLC, a Destin real-estate firm; $25,000 from a Florida Transportation Builders Association PAC; and $25,000 from The Vestcor Companies, a Jacksonville real-estate firm.
Political committees face an Aug. 10deadline for filing reports with the state showing finance activity from throughout July. But as of June 30, the Latvala political committee had nearly $3.55 million in available cash.
If Latvala runs for governor, he would face Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam in a Republican primary. Putnam's political committee, known as “Florida Grown,” raised $61,500 during the first two weeks of July, according to its website. Florida Grown had about $10 million in cash on hand as of June 30, state campaign-finance records show.
