FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. _ Tim Canova's campaign coffers got a big boost this week _ thanks to the negative attention focused on U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz.
The Florida Democrat resigned as chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee, effective with the end of the party's national convention this week in Philadelphia. The move came in the wake of the WikiLeaks posting of hacked DNC emails, which showed party staffers favoring Hillary Clinton over Bernie Sanders when they were still competing with each other for the Democratic presidential nomination.
The national attention to Wasserman Schultz and mentions of Canova have helped drive his fundraising, he said Thursday in an interview with the Sun Sentinel Editorial Board. Canova is running against Wasserman Schultz in the Aug. 30 Democratic congressional primary in the Broward/Miami-Dade County 23rd District
Canova said he raised $125,000 on Monday and Tuesday of this week. Wasserman Schultz announced her resignation on Sunday. On Monday afternoon, she said she wouldn't gavel the convention to order and wouldn't be speaking at the quadrennial event.
"That's a lot for two days. And it was certainly a kick from what had happened to Debbie," Canova said.
Bringing in more than $60,000 a day is significantly more than Canova had been taking in earlier in the campaign. Reports filed with the Federal Election Commission show that in the first quarter of 2016, Canova raised an average of $6,325 a day. In the second quarter _ which included a bump when Sanders endorsed Canova's candidacy _ he took in an average of $18,800 a day.
In the second quarter, Canova outraised Wasserman Schultz. But he also spent more money than she did.
The bottom line: Canova had $986,000 in his campaign bank account on July 1. He also had debt of $20,000, including the $15,000 he loaned his campaign when he entered the race in January. Wasserman Schultz had $1.6 million in cash and no debt.
