State dollars continue to flow into the races for governor and attorney general, with more money from the public campaign finance program going to Democratic candidates than their Republican counterparts.
It’s an indication the Democratic candidates, former U.S. Rep. David Jolly, who is running for governor, and former state Sen. Jose Javier Rodriguez, who is running for attorney general, are receiving more small-dollar donations. That’s because the program matches contributions of $250 or less from individuals residing in Florida.
Jolly picked up nearly $123,000 from the state's public campaign finance program on Friday. U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds, the Republican candidate for governor, drew almost $27,000.
Rodriguez got $4,708 on Friday, while Attorney General James Uthmeier, a Republican, picked up $675.
Since the first weekly distributions on July 17, Jolly has received $2.1 million, and Donalds has received $932,000.
In total, Jolly has raised $8.2 million through his campaign account, of which $4.9 million had been spent as of Sept. 11. The campaign has also received more than $300,000 worth of assistance mostly from the Florida Democratic Party for campaign staffing.
Donalds’ campaign account has received $13.3 million, of which nearly $7.4 million has been spent.
The campaign has received more than $1.8 million worth of staffing and consulting assistance mostly from the Republican Party of Florida.
Money given to political committees supporting the candidates isn’t factored into the distributions.
As of September 11, the Friends of Byron Donalds PAC has spent nearly $70 million of the $107.6 million it raised. And the political committee Florida 2026, which backs Jolly, has spent $3.3 million of the $6.4 million it received.
Of the eight candidates for governor whose names will appear on the November ballot, Jolly and Donalds are the only ones to apply for and receive state dollars through the program, which was approved by voters in 1998.
The program is open to candidates running for governor, state attorney, chief financial officer and agriculture commissioner. It distributed $13 million to seven candidates in 2022 and $9.8 million to 10 candidates in 2018.
So far this year, the program has doled out $3.7 million.
Overall, the program has now distributed just under $287,000 to Rodriguez and $165,000 to Uthmeier.
Uthmeier, who was appointed to the office by Gov. Ron DeSantis in February 2025, has raised almost $1.6 million through his campaign account. As of September 11, he had spent nearly $320,000.
The Republican Party of Florida has provided most of the $244,000 worth of consulting and staff assistance Uthmeier has received.
The political committee Friends of James Uthmeier had more than $7 million on hand as of Sept. 11.
Rodriguez, who has raised $1.2 million, had about $658,000 in his treasury at the same time. The Florida Democratic Party has given more than half the $56,000 worth of in-kind assistance Rodriguez’ campaign has received.
Rodriguez’ political committee Floridians for JJR had about $780,000 available from the $1.26 million raised.