February was a roller coaster month for Florida Agricultural Commissioner Adam Putnam. His political committee, Florida Grown PC, announced that they raised more than $2.25M in the month of February. In the email announcement, Justin Hollis, Chairman of Florida Grown PC, writes that the month’s fundraising activities bring, “total contributions for Florida Grown PC to just over $9.4 million to date.”
The announcement even came with humor, noting that unlike the Oscars, Putnam’s accountants had double-checked the totals and they were, indeed, accurate.
For a sitting Agriculture Commissioner, raising millions from the established GOP elite as well as the regulated interests in Tallahassee is not a big surprise, but these totals are impressive by any standard.
As we learned from the 2016 election cycle, media coverage can make or break a candidate and fundraising matters, but it isn’t everything. Just ask Jeb Bush. Unfortunately for Putnam, other than the notoriety generated for his fundraising prowess, his media coverage in February hasn’t exactly been favorable and given the focus of this coverage, his successful fundraising only added to his chagrin.
