TAMPA, Fla. — In the waning months before the November election, Sydney Gruters, the Republican running for Congress in Florida’s 16th district, got a boost in donations from some GOP heavy hitters.

In September alone, Gruters’ campaign account received almost $250,000 from other political committees, new federal paperwork shows, many of them registered to sitting Republican members of the House she wishes to join. Donors include a committee registered to U.S. Rep. August Pfluger of Texas, who leads the largest House caucus of conservatives; Rep. Brian Jack of Georgia, formerly one of President Donald Trump’s longest-serving aides; and Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, a founder of the hard-line Freedom Caucus.

Those checks joined others written by committees registered to House Speaker Mike Johnson and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise earlier in the year. Altogether, they indicate a high level of support on the national stage. The only other Florida candidate who received a check from the House Speaker, for example, was incumbent Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, whose race is considered more competitive than Gruters’.

The donations are likely an indication of the additional layer of national exposure Gruters has received from her husband, former state Sen. Joe Gruters, serving as the chairperson of the Republican National Committee. Nationwide, Republicans are also ramping up spending as their anxiety grows about Trump’s low approval ratings, forcing them to defend seats that once appeared to be easy wins.

“We appreciate the tremendous support Sydney has received from Floridians and Republican leaders across the country,” said Max Goodman, a consultant for the Gruters campaign, in a statement. “More than 80% of our donations have come from Floridians, and we’re grateful for their confidence.”

The 16th district was redrawn in the latest Republican-led redistricting to span parts of seven counties, stretching from St. Petersburg to Arcadia in rural DeSoto County. Incumbent Rep. Vern Buchanan is retiring, creating an open race. Voters inside the new district voted for Trump by almost 14 points in 2024, though national prognosticators at the Cook Political Report shifted it last week from “solid Republican” to “likely Republican.”

Gruters’ Democratic opponent, former Sarasota Mayor Kelly Kirschner, has received much less institutional support from party leaders.

Kirschner’s campaign got one donation of $5,000 from a political committee headed by U.S. Rep. Steny Hoyer of Maryland, a former majority leader and the most senior Democrat in the House. Last month, a separate committee supporting Kirschner also received $10,000 from the defunct campaign of Alex Vindman, the Democrat who lost the U.S. Senate primary and vowed to disburse his leftover money to like-minded candidates.

Charlie Goldstein, Kirschner’s campaign manager, said the disparity shows which candidate is built on organic support, touting how some local Republican elected officials have endorsed Kirschner.

“Sydney Gruters has the Washington establishment writing checks and $2.5 million in unethical, false AI-generated ads by outside super PAC money because Washington knows who she’ll answer to, while we pay the bills,” Goldstein said in a statement. “Kelly’s campaign has refused corporate PAC money and is built on people power.”

Some of the big midterm spending has also come from the world’s richest person, Elon Musk, who’s poured tens of millions into races across the country. His company, SpaceX, gave $10,000 to Gruters’ campaign this summer.

A super PAC Musk founded, called America PAC, has also been buying Florida ads this month, records show, though it’s primarily focused on an ultra-competitive South Florida race to defeat Democratic Rep. Jared Moskowitz.

Overall, Gruters has outraised Kirschner, with a total haul so far of more than $1.6 million through September between her campaign account plus two affiliated political committees supporting her bid. Kirschner’s campaign plus the separate pro-Kirschner committee have raised a little over $760,000.

Mark Davis, a progressive candidate not affiliated with either political party, is also running for the seat and has raised about $65,000.

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(Times data editor Langston Taylor contributed to this report.)

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