Moore leads latest fundraising report in District 7 race

21 days to go!

The Orange County School Board District 7 election is in the stretch run. Four candidates will sprint towards the August 30th finish line with different tactics and strategies based on their fundraising success and the cash they have on hand.

Matthew Fitzpatrick has surprises in store.

Incumbent Christine Moore lapped the field with over $30,000 raised, and $11,686.42 of it still in her campaign war chest. She won the Apopka and West Orange Hob Nobs and seems poised to win a third term in the District 7 seat.

She listed the improvements made during her time as an OCPS board member as what she wants to convey the rest of the way.

"I’m grateful for the financial support I have received. It is costly to make sure our citizens know the depth of improvements during my tenure. The district has constructed seven new schools, provided one-to-one technology at the high schools, offered more rigorous courses and vocational education, conducted extensive teacher professional development and been awarded two Governor’s Sterling Awards for operational efficiency."

Isadora Dean is the most likely challenger to unseat Moore.

Isadora Dean has managed to stay within striking distance of Moore with a little over $12,000 raised, and $5,201.70 on hand. Dean and her husband Apopka City Commissioner Billie Dean have been fixtures in Apopka neighborhoods the past few weeks canvassing for votes. She would have to be considered the most likely challenger to unseat Moore, based on name recognition in Apopka and in fundraising numbers.

She is focusing voters on her experience with education that spans five decades.

"I am fortunate that many former colleagues and students from the past 42 years...many now educators themselves, want to help me join the School Board. Our campaign is reaching out to voters throughout District 7, by phone, on foot, and through the mail."

Matthew Fitzpatrick has also been in the Apopka neighborhoods campaigning, and is using social media to connect with voters through almost daily essays on his opinions of how the OCPS should operate. He is essentially living off the land with only a little over $3,800 raised, and a little under $1,000 on hand.

Fitzpatrick's plan is to do what he has done all along, plus a few surprises as the campaign nears its completion.

Christine Moore is a two-term incumbent with the most money in her campaign account.

"Unless I get a waterfall of funds to send out flyers by mail, we're going to have to continue to do the things we've done up to the point--walking neighborhoods, putting up yard signs, and continue sharing ideas about education on my Facebook page and my website. I've got a couple other ideas up my sleeve that I'm going to bring out soon."

Laura Rounds is relatively unknown in Apopka.

According to her campaign's Facebook page, Laura Rounds is an Associate Professor of Psychology for The University of Phoenix (Central Florida Campus) and the District Coordinator of the AVID program, but is a relative unknown in Apopka. The Winter Garden/Ocoee resident has raised only $2,100 and has only $128.95 on hand. She will have to draw from non-Apopka regions of District 7 to have any chance of making the top two slots and forcing a runoff that would occur on November 8th.