A candidate for a Community Development District seat in The Villages has accepted a second $1,000 campaign contribution from the Developer.
Patricia Francis, of the Village of Bridgeport at Miona Shores, is running to fill a seat currently held by CDD 6 Chair Sally Moss, who will step down this fall. She is serving on the Sumter County School Board.
Francis accepted in July a $1,000 contribution from MMM LLC, headquartered at 1020 Lake Sumter Landing in The Villages. That address is the longtime headquarters for The Villages.
Francis accepted a $1,000 campaign contribution on Aug. 24 from GTMJ Investment Group, also headquartered at 1020 Lake Sumter Landing, according to campaign finance records.
CDD races are typically low-key affairs, with most candidates meeting with residents at postal stations. With $2,250 in her campaign coffers, her treasury is the most bountiful in all of the CDD races in The Villages. The CDD candidate who comes in second in fundraising is Community Development District 10 candidate Frank Lancione, who contributed $2,000 to launch his own campaign.
Francis’ only campaign expenses thus far have been a $25 qualifying fee, $344.88 paid to The Villages Media Group and a $187.25 reimbursement to herself.
Andrew Curtis, a resident of the Village of Mallory Square, is Francis’ lone opponent for the seat. He has $250 in his campaign coffers, a contribution from himself.
Francis is the only CDD candidate on the ballot this fall to have received financial support from the Developer. Francis has long been active in Republican Party politics in The Villages. Her husband, Mike Francis, was a Sumter County commissioner. He died in 2009.
