Republican lawyer Mery Lopez-Palma and Democratic dentist Mike Friend led in fundraising for their respective Primary races last quarter for House District 102.

Lopez added about $43,200 between Oct. 1 and Dec. 31, leading Cooper City Commissioner Jason Paul Smith, who has raised more and still holds more money in total on the GOP side of the contest.

Friend, who has been running for more than a year, outpaced Generation Z Democratic activist Jayden D’Onofrio with a nearly $18,000 fourth-quarter haul, though D’Onofrio still leads overall.

In terms of total funds raised, Friend and D’Onofrio have amassed $133,300 and $138,500, respectively, while Lopez-Palma and Smith have raised $68,300 and $100,300.

The four candidates are running to replace term-limited Davie Democratic Rep. Mike Gottlieb in HD 102, which covers an inland portion of Broward County that includes all or parts of Davie, Plantation and Sunrise.

The district leans Democratic. In the 2022 election, voters there sided with Democratic candidate Charlie Crist over incumbent Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis by more than 3 percentage points, according to MCI Maps.

The 2026 Primary is Aug. 18, followed by the General Election on Nov. 3.

Republican Primary

Lopez-Palma’s gains were primarily self-given. She loaned her campaign $33,000 — a sum that, if unspent, is refundable. She also received 54 outside contributions averaging $189.

All but one donation, $106 from Calatrava Strategies in Wilton Manors, came through personal checks. Notable contributions included $1,000 from Galiz Research CEO Luis Pedraza, who ran unsuccessfully for the Miramar Commission last year; $500 from Broward School Board member Adam Cervera, who made a big career move this week; and $100 from Weston Commissioner Fabio Andrade.

She also spent $16,000 in Q4. Most of it — $12,500 — went to Richard Sarmiento of Miramar for consulting services. Another $526 went to The MAGA Mall in Palm City for hats and advertising, and $200 went to Sol & Mar Magazine in Hialeah for ads.

The rest covered accounting and donation-processing fees.

Since Lopez-Palma filed to run Dec. 2, 2024, she’s raised about $68,300 through her campaign account. Of that, more than $52,000 was self-loaned.

Smith, a former firefighter and union President who filed to run in early April 2025, added $5,600 last quarter through his campaign account and political committee, Friends of Jason Paul Smith.

He also spent about $9,100, not counting a $42 self-expenditure he marked as in-kind aid, leaving $76,100 in his coffers by New Year’s Day.

His Q4 gains came through 13 contributions averaging $430. That included $1,000 apiece from the International Association of Firefighters, Firefighters of Miami Beach and Hillsborough Fire Action Committee, and $500 from the South Florida Council of Firefighters.

His biggest contribution was a $1,500 check from Weston-based contracting company Tirone Electric & Data. The rest were personal checks.

Smith’s spending included $4,000 to Virginia-based Breakpoint Media and $1,000 to Sunshine Group Consulting in Pompano Beach, and $855 to Cooper City-based Think Big Websites for web design, emails and ads.

The remainder covered treasury services, bank fees, donation-processing fees and a $290 self-reimbursement for campaign-related lodging, parking and food.

Democratic Primary

Friend received 60 donations last quarter, most of them personal checks of three figures or less. His average donation was $301.

Several industry and union interests chipped in. He got $1,000 apiece from the political arms of the Florida Home Builders Association, Florida Bankers Association and Florida Organization of Agents and Broward Teachers Union, and $500 each from the Florida Podiatry PAC and Florida Osteopathic Medical Association.

He also spent $1,900. Of that, close to $400 covered donations to the Dolphin Democrats, Plantation Democratic Club and the United Negro College Fund in Washington, D.C

Another $225 went to North Palm Beach-based Victory Political Mail for related services. The rest covered postage, travel and office supplies.

Friend, who filed to run Dec. 5, 2024, held $120,245 in his campaign account at the end of 2025, including a $50,000 self-loan.

D’Onofrio, who entered the race in July 2025, collected 80 outside contributions in Q4 averaging $128.

His biggest gain was a $4,000 contribution from Florida Future Leaders, a political committee he and other young Democrats launched in early 2024 to flip Florida seats blue.

He also added $1,000 from the D.C.-based Democracy Mobilization Project and the same sum from Tallahassee-headquartered Rubin Turnbull & Associates.

D’Onofrio spent about $9,400 last quarter, the preponderance of it — $7,500 — on services from Plantation-based Sunshine Strategies and its sister firm, Sawgrass Compliance.

He also paid $206 to Plantation-based MDW Communications for email consulting and $1,030 to the Florida Democratic Party for “vote builder web services.”

Heading into 2026, D’Onofrio had $114,500 remaining between his campaign account and political committee, Jayden For Florida, including a $25,000 self-loan and $42,500 from family members.

Candidates faced a Jan. 12 deadline to report all campaign finance activity through Dec. 31.

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