Latest campaign finance documents show London outpacing DeNiro in 2 most recent reporting periods
With the Nov. 3 General Election looming, the Republican candidate for the District 4 seat on the Sarasota County Commission has maintained a wide fundraising lead over his Democratic opponent, The Sarasota News Leader has found through a review of the candidates’ latest filings with the Sarasota County Supervisor of Elections Office.
As of Oct. 2, the News Leader learned, Republican Jim DeNiro had raised $92,255 and spent $87,168.32. Democrat Julie London had received a total of $15,795 and spent $4,437.29.
Nonetheless, as a reporter for the nonprofit Suncoast Searchlight local news organization wrote in a recent article, an influential Republican in District 4 has become an advocate for the election of the Democrat — action that has the potential to diminish DeNiro’s financial strength in the race.
“Conni Brunni, who heads the Sarasota MAGA Patriots, said it was the first time in her adult life that she has pushed for a Democrat to win a seat in any office, noting that her endorsement was not on behalf of the right-wing club she helps run,” reporter Alice Herman wrote in the Oct. 16 article.
“I believe Julie London is the only thing standing between us in this community and unbridled development,” Herman quoted Brunni.
Herman added, “In interviews with Suncoast Searchlight, officials, candidates, activists and political observers said they have been frustrated with the pace of new development in the region, while also pointing to other concerns,” such as “the proliferation” of Flock camera surveillance technology and laws approved in recent years by the Florida Legislature that have pre-empted local government control.
The Sarasota County Commission is fighting multiple lawsuits that developers have filed against the county over a commission policy approved in April that ruled out parcels with open use and residential zoning as the sites of Live Local Act affordable housing projects, as the News Leader has reported.
“Brunni decided to endorse London,” Herman continued, “because of the outsize role the county plays in regulating growth, despite holding some ‘diametrically opposing’ views, and said other right-wing activists are also privately supporting London’s campaign.”
The Sarasota MAGA Patriots website’s Voter Guide offers “No Recommendation” in the County Commission District 4 race, the News Leader observed:
DeNiro, a Realtor and retired Sarasota Police Department sergeant, defeated District 4 incumbent Joe Neunder during the Aug. 18 Republican Primary, even though reporting by Michael Barfield, executive director of the Florida Center for Government Accountability, raised questions about whether DeNiro met the residency requirements to run in that district.
DeNiro’s qualifications were an issue that Brunni had raised ahead of the primary. In fact, she filed a formal complaint with the Florida Commission on Ethics in regard to her concerns. “DeNiro’s campaign publicly attacked Brunni weeks before the complaint was filed,” Barfield wrote.
Additionally, Barfield pointed out that Wyoming-based entities — whose backers he was unable to uncover in his investigation — had spent money in an effort to defeat Neunder.
Further, Barfield noted that DeNiro is the brother-in-law of John “Frank” LaCivita, president and CEO of Willis A. Smith Construction, who serves on the county’s Planning Commission. The Planning Commission long has been recognized as the County Commission’s most influential advisory board, as it reviews all land-use applications and proposed amendments to the Comprehensive Plan — which guides growth in the community — and provides its members’ recommendations to the County Commission in advance of the latter’s public hearings on those plans.
After previous Republican County Commissioners Mike Moran and Neil Rainford left the board in the aftermath of the November 2024 General Election, Neunder, as the commission chair in 2025, questioned a number of development issues and joined the board majority on numerous occasions in voting against development.
(Moran stepped down because of term limits; Rainford, because of his defeat in the August 2024 Republican Primary for the District 3 seat by former three-term county Sheriff Tom Knight, whom Brunni also had supported.)
On his campaign website, DeNiro lists his top priorities in the following order: housing affordability, public safety, fiscal discipline and environmental protection.
Atop her campaign website, Democrat London says, with emphasis, that she “believes your County Commissioner should be responsive to you — not to big-money donors or deep-pockets developers.”
Her website includes among her priorities a “Hard NO on AI Data Centers,” “Home Rule for Sarasota,” “Trim the Budget” and “Keep Seniors & Retirees’ Homes Affordable.”
A surge in financial support for London
In reviewing the two most recent campaign finance reports filed for DeNiro and London that were available on the Sarasota County Supervisor of Elections Office website by Oct. 20, the News Leader learned that London pulled in a total of $2,420. Those periods were Sept. 5 through Sept. 18 and Sept. 19 through Oct. 2.
Her spending for the same periods added up to $1,001.07.
In his comparable filings, DeNiro reported raising a total of $1,500 and spending $800.78. The latter went to Robert Watkins & Co. in Tampa, which has been handling his campaign finances.
Of the $1,500, $1,000 came from the Florida PBA Justice Political Action Committee (PAC), which is based in Tallahassee.
The other $500 was contributed by the Gulf Coast Builders Exchange Political Committee. The chair of that committee, as shown on the Florida Elections Commission website, is Jeff Charlotte, who founded J.E. Charlotte Construction in Venice in 2007, the company’s website says.
On its website, the Gulf Coast Builders Exchange points out, “The greatest value of GCBX is the opportunity created through meaningful industry connections. Through events, committees, leadership opportunities, and industry engagement, members connect with professionals across the commercial construction community, creating partnerships, expanding their influence, and building opportunities that last for years to come.”
The organization also calls itself “A Strong Voice for Commercial Construction.”
A review of London’s last two campaign finance reports found 12 persons listed in each. The contributions ranged from $20 to $1,000, the latter amount being the maximum any solitary person or entity can give to a candidate.
All but one of the contributions in her Sept. 19-25 report came from retirees. Her filing for the period through Oct, 2 showed only two contributors who were not retirees. One was a software engineer; the other, a teacher. Each gave London $100, the report says.
The $1,000 contribution came from Sarasota resident Kelly Franklin, who long has been active in issues regarding the City of Sarasota, including efforts to preserve the environment.
London’s top expenditures in that last report went to Sir Speedy of Sarasota for the printing of materials; the total was $842.88. She also spent $24.49 that period for Facebook advertising.
All of London’s other expenditures in those last two filings were for fees for the processing of contributions. The money went to Anedot of Dallas.