4-minute read
As competition intensifies in the election for Polk County School Board District 3, partisan rhetoric and party-aligned political committees are trying to impact the race.
The involvement of these organizations raises questions about who is financing messages sent to voters and how much spending can be traced to outside and partisan sources.
By the numbers
As of Oct. 16, challenger Victor Sims reported $81,485.11 in contributions and $53,582 in expenditures. Sims has received 705 total contributions, including 16 donations maxing out at $1,000.
Incumbent Kate Wallace reported $114,377.98 in contributions and $76,552.29 in expenditures. Wallace has a total of 294 contributions with 61 at the $1,000 maximum.
Contribution totals include monetary and in-kind donations.
Sims’ notable contributions
Sims’ individual donors often gave multiple small amounts, resulting in an average donation of $115.58.
Nearly 27% of his individual contributions came from donors self-reporting as educators, teachers, professors, or school counselors.
The Florida Democratic Party has made two in-kind contributions to the Sims campaign, with a total value of $6,159.70. The party also made one $1,000 monetary donation. Florida Pipeline Project, which works “to build multiracial, generational progressive power in the state through recruiting, supporting, and electing a diverse set of candidates,” and former Polk County School Board Member Sarah Fortney both donated $1,000.
Wallace’s notable contributions
Wallace’s notable $1,000 contributors include six heirs of George Jenkins, founder of Publix. John Kirtley, founder of Step Up for Students and prominent school-choice and charter school advocate, also donated $1,000.
Other Wallace donors include Jason Rodda, owner of Rodda Construction, which has an ongoing business relationship with Polk County Public Schools, and Cassidy Holdings Group Inc., a company that sold property in Haines City to the school district for $1.547 million.
Campaign strategies
Sims’ communication strategy has included text messaging, one mailer, and volunteer-written postcards, paid for directly by his campaign.
The Florida Democratic Party’s in-kind donations included production and distribution of additional mailers supporting Sims.
While the Wallace campaign has not commissioned any mailers since the runoff began, at least two political action committees (PACs) Celebrate Achievement and Save Our Quality of Life have paid for the production and distribution of mailers supporting Wallace.
One describes her as a lifelong Republican. Both highlight her endorsement by Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd and note that Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed her to the School Board in November 2025.
The Celebrate Achievement mailer criticized Sims’ alleged positions on school choice, parental rights, and student athletics. The Wallace campaign was not involved with the mailer, but Sims responded to the claims by directly addressing Wallace in a press release dated Oct. 7.
“You don’t get to invent my positions because you don’t like them. Voters deserve the truth,” Sims said in the release. He went on to refute the mailer’s claims regarding his position on girls’ sports, school choice, staff pay, and parental rights and academics.
PACs supporting the campaign
Celebrate Achievement, the PAC responsible for the contested mailer, has amassed $651,171.05 since its founding. It has spent $642,557.06 on various political campaigns during this election cycle. Save Our Quality of Life has raised over $1.5 million in it’s seven years and spending nearly all. It’s recent October fundraising totaled $124,000. Publicly available expenditure reports don’t provide the details needed to establish exactly how much either PAC spent to support Wallace in the District 3 race.
Celebrate Achievement is largely funded by a network of PACs, including the Freedom First Committee and several others affiliated with William S. Jones, longtime GOP political operative, who is currently listed as an officer of 100 different, active political committees.
The Freedom First Committee has raised nearly $6 million since its founding in 2016, including more than $3 million during the current election cycle, according to The Ledger. The committee’s reported funding sources include the Republican State Leadership Committee and other conservative political committees.
The Wallace campaign has also received funding directly from several PACs, including Friends of Grady Judd, Friends of Jennifer Canady, Advancing Florida Agriculture, Friends of Ben Albritton, and Friends of Jennifer Kincart Jonsson.
The Sims campaign has received funding from PACs, including Help Out Public Education and Advocacy Fund Florida Education Association, which are funded by a variety of teachers unions and public education advocacy organizations.
Beyond monetary support
Wallace has received endorsements from DeSantis, Judd, additional Republican officials, and Florida State Board of Education Chair Ryan Petty. She is recommended in the Republican Party of Florida’s voter guide for Polk County.
Sims has received endorsements from organizations including Collective PAC, Run for Something, Equality Florida PAC, the Southern Poverty Law Center Action Fund, and the Polk Education Association PAC. He is also included in the Florida Democratic Party’s “Take Back Local” slate.
Voters will decide the District 3 seat on Nov. 3.
Prepare to cast your vote:
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