With Tallahassee’s local elections nearing, campaign-finance reports through July 31 show a wide range in fundraising among candidates — with some races appearing highly competitive financially and others dominated by one candidate. The Tallahassee mayoral race has the largest fundraising tot als. Former state Sen. Loranne Ausley leads with $347,252.92 in contributions, followed closely by Daryl Parks with $319,917.55. Jeremy Matlow has raised $188,987.90, while Mike Foust has collected $6,437.49. The numbers make the mayor’s race the most competitive financially at the top. Ausley has raised about $27,335 more than Parks, while Matlow trails Ausley by roughly $158,265. In City Commission Seat 3, Tom Derzypolski leads the six-candidate field with $116,519.16. Talethia Edwards is second at $84,294.26, followed by PJ Perez at $67,916.21. Maxwell Herrle has raised $31,880.07, while Norm Roche and Darryl Alfred are far behind at $7,256.87 and $6,375.90, respectively. That makes Seat 3 a three-candidate fundraising race at the top, with Derzypolski holding a roughly $32,225 advantage over Edwards and $48,603 over Perez. Seat 5 is less competitive financially. Dianne Williams-Cox leads with $75,537, more than three times the $23,784.26 raised by Dot Inman-Johnson and nearly four times the $19,970.30 raised by Tiffany Hill. Among the Leon County School Board races, District 3 incumbent Darryl Jones is unopposed. District 5 has a substantial fundraising disparity, with Marcus Nicolas raising $14,797.78, compared with $3,481 for James G. Reilly Jr. The figures suggest the mayor’s race is the closest fundraising contest, while Seat 3 has a meaningful three-way financial competition. Seat 5 and the School Board District 5 race show much larger fundraising gaps. ...read more read less