Ivette Arango O’Doski, Alex Bucelo have the most funds in their groups
The campaign funding trend in the Coral Gables election continues to favor Ivette Arango O’Doski in Group 4 and Alex Bucelo in Group 5. Both have topped $100,000 as of Feb. 28, according to the latest campaign finance reports available online.
And just absentee or mail-in ballots are about to be sent out.
Arango O’Doski collected just over $24,000 in February for a total of $106,480 in her campaign account. At least $5,000 was in bundled $500 donations from 10 companies tied to developer Sergio Pino.
Alex Bucelo took in another $22K last month for a total of $109,875. He also has a PAC, Friends of the Gables, that has collected more than $144,000 since last summer, mostly from real estate development interests, and $10,000 from lobbyist Les Pantin. Ladra could not find any political action committees tied to Arango O’Doski, a lobbyist, also has a ton of lobbyist money and more than 10 checks from PACs.
Read related: Coral Gables commission candidates on traffic, development, resiliency, mobility
Gables Mayor Vince Lago, however, has a PAC with a balance of $708,756 in it, as of Feb. 28. That includes $37,500 raised for Coral Gables First just in February. Of that, $10K is from Pantin and $5,000 each from the Calta Group — developers of luxury residential — and healthcare mogul Mike Fernandez. Other contractors and developers also gave.
And since Lago won re-election automatically without a challenge, he can spend his PAC funds on his chosen candidates: Arango O’Doski and Bucelo.
In fact, Ladra bets he goes all out for them to win because he thinks they’ll give him the three votes he needs to do whatever he wants.
And while Bucelo raised a few thousand more, he has also spent way more. Arango O’Doski has more in hand — $98,418 to his $76,480.
Read related: Coral Gables Vince Lago is running slate of candidates in April election
But Bucelo still has more than Ariel Fernandez has in his campaign account, which shows he’s raised $18,870 and spent $5,513.
In the Group 4 race, Melissa Castro, a permit expediter has raised $9,350, property owner Jackson “Rip” Holmes has raised $1,215 and Sean Patrick McGrover, an investment consultant, has raised $3,340.
Money doesn’t always win races, but it is often a sign of support from the community and it helps campaigns get their message across.
Voters should expect a flurry of political mail this week.
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More money pours into Coral Gables commission races, two distinct leaders added by Ladra on
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