Joe Garcia prepares for race vs Curbelo or MacDougall

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Congressman Joe Garcia wants to hit the ground running after Republican voters in District 26 decide on Tuesday who they are going to pit against him in November.

And with less than a week to go, Dems are tracking only two of the five GOP primary candidates: Miami-Dade School Board Member Carlos “Crybaby” Curbelo and Cutler Bay Mayor Ed “Big Mac Daddy” MacDougall.

“We have six days until the primary,” reads an email sent by Joe Garcia (read: someone who works for Joe Garcia) to local Democrats, even those outside his district. “The minute the primary has been decided, the attacks against me are only going to intensify.

“We are getting ready for two and a half months of non-stop false and misleading attacks,” he goes on in the email “We need a strong response, and that means putting as much money as we can into our next media buy on Friday.”

Then came the sales pitch “Are you ready to step up for me?”

There’s a link to make donations in categories, $7, $25, $50, $100 or any amount you indicate (up to the $2,600 limit).

“We’re getting ready to make some crucial decisions, and I need to be able to tell everyone to pull out all of the stops to win. But to do that, we need you before our deadline tomorrow night. Donate now so we don’t fall behind. Thank you, Joe.”

But are you kidding me?

Really? Really? Garcia has already amassed $2.8 million in contributions. Of that, he has spent just over a mil, so he has almost $2 mil left. How much is it going to take to beat whoever comes out in the primary half broken-in already? I mean, really?

Ladra knows a good week of TV and radio buys can eat upwards of $300,000. But I also know that the candidates’ media buyers get a 15% kickback on that most of the time. And I also know that Garcia is going to get help. The Democratic Campaign Congressional Committee and America Rising PAC have already helped his campaign and will likely pour millions of dollars into ads for the general.

Read related story: Alex Sink loss could spell trouble for Joe Garcia in November

On the flip side, whoever wins the Republican primary has some presents under the tree as well: The Republican National Congressional Committee has placed $1.5 million in media buys, while the Libre Initiative — the Koch brothers’ Spanish language PAC — has placed another million.

Because, make no mistake, this election will be an all out war between the parties at a national level. Once the primary is in the past Wednesday, the special interests mentioned above will turn this into an attack vs attack campaign telling voters who is the worst man, not who is the best man.

Sorta like the governor’s race.

Democrat insiders tell Ladra they think the contest is between Curbelo, who was always the frontrunner if only for his sheer money, and MacDougall, who they are also watching closely and who has been attacking Curbelo non-stop for weeks, reminding voters that he betrayed Sen. Marco Rubio, aligned with former Gov. Charlie Crist, who at the time was a Republican. MacDougall has also repeatedly called Curbelo “an insider” and lobbyist and on Sunday, brought up the hidden clients thing on a TV mini debate.

Carlos Curbelo ups the primary heat, mainly vs Ed MacDougall

Almost all the $260,000 in local media buys made in the primary through Monday was purchased by Curbelo — leading with about $174,000 — and MacDougall, once considered a longshot,  with $82,000. Most of MacDougall’s media buys have been fresh, however. As in the last few weeks.

The Florida Democratic Party sent out a press release with videos Wednesday of MacDougall talking about Curbelo on WPLG’s This Week in South Florida and at the Key Largo Civic Club in Monroe County.

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  Carlos Curbelo, Congressional district 26, Ed MacDougall, Joe Garcia