Two Campaigns, Two Very Different Funding Models
Campaign finance reports are not exactly beach reading. All the names, dates, and dollar amounts can make even a committed voter’s eyes glaze over.
But strip away the accounting detail, and the District 2 School Board race highlights two very different approaches to campaign funding.
Daniela Simic’s latest report shows that most of her campaign funding comes from individual donors. Around 76% of the money she has received is from individuals. Her typical donation is $100, and about 63% of her contributions are $100 or less. The remaining 24% comes from businesses or political committees.
Brittany Lyssy’s campaign finances tell a different story.
Only about 58% of Lyssy’s donations come from individuals, while about 42% come from businesses and political committees. Her typical donation is $250, and about 88% of the money she has received from others came in checks of $500 or more.
In short, Simic relies more on many small individual donations, while Lyssy depends more on large checks and support from political and business groups.
This difference stands out even more when you look at the political committees backing Lyssy.
Her campaign account includes money from several conservative or Republican-affiliated committees, such as Common Sense Conservatives, Friends of Blaise Ingoglia, Florida Values Coalition, and Hillsborough United. She has also received support from three Realtor political committees.
One contribution stands out, since this is meant to be a nonpartisan School Board race: Lyssy’s latest filings show $3,000 from a Hillsborough County Republican organization.
School Board candidates do not have an R or D next to their names on the ballot. Voters decide what it means when a party organization gives thousands of dollars to a candidate in a race that is supposed to be nonpartisan.
Lyssy also has something Simic does not have: a separate Florida political committee with her name on it.
Friends of Brittany Lyssy is registered as a Florida PAC, with Lyssy as its chair. Recent records show this committee has raised $21,450, separate from Lyssy’s main campaign. I am not discussing who gave the largest contributions here. The key point is that another source of political money exists in addition to the candidate account. Florida records confirm the committee’s registration. (Flelections)
None of this shows how either candidate would vote if elected. Campaign contributions only show financial support, not any kind of deal.
But money is just one part of the bigger picture around Lyssy’s candidacy.
Lyssy points to her work with the Leadership Institute’s School Board Leaders Program as part of her education policy experience. The Leadership Institute is a conservative group that trains activists and candidates on how to run campaigns and govern after they win.
While Lyssy was in that program, Bridget Ziegler held a top leadership role in the school-board operation. The Leadership Institute offered school-board campaign training led by Ziegler, and a 2023 public biography said her job was to train conservative activists, candidates, and elected school-board members nationwide. (Leadership Institute On-Demand)
Ziegler was also an early leader and co-founder of Moms for Liberty, which connects the Leadership Institute’s school-board work to the larger conservative movement focused on local education politics. News reports at the time showed Ziegler running the Institute’s Sarasota school-board training program. (The Washington Post)
This does not mean Lyssy is a member of Moms for Liberty, and I have not found any evidence that she is. But it does add another detail for voters to consider.
Lyssy has no classroom, administrative, or management experience. Daniela Simic, on the other hand, brings many years of classroom and administrative experience to the Board.
One candidate gets most of her financial support from individuals and smaller donations. The other receives much more from businesses and political committees, has a separate PAC with her name, has received direct Republican support in a nonpartisan race, and has built part of her career in a national conservative school-board training network.
These are not judgments about either candidate.
They are differences in who is funding the campaigns, the political networks around each candidate, and their experience. These differences matter, especially as local control over our governing bodies in Florida continues to decline. A candidate who is not tied to political committees and their agendas might better serve our students and community.
Sources
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Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections, Daniela Simic Campaign Finance Reports, through September 17, 2026
https://www.votehillsborough.gov/
Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections, Brittany Lyssy Campaign Finance Reports, through September 18, 2026
https://www.votehillsborough.gov/
Florida Division of Elections, Friends of Brittany Lyssy Political Committee registration and campaign-finance records
https://dos.elections.myflorida.com/
Leadership Institute On-Demand, School Board Campaign Training
https://www.leadershipinstitute.training/courses/schoolboardcampaign
The Washington Post, reporting on Bridget Ziegler and the Leadership Institute’s Sarasota school-board training operation
https://www.washingtonpost.com/style/power/interactive/2023/sarasota-maga-dream/
