Top Villages officials and T&D executives have been pouring money into the re-election campaign of a Sumter County School Board candidate.
David Williams, the golf pro at Cane Garden Championship Golf Course, is running for a second term.
Though he has not yet drawn an opponent, Williams has been steadily building his campaign coffers.
In March, Williams raked in $8,100 in contributions, including $1,000 from T&D Distribution and another $1,000 from its president, Brett Hage, who is a candidate for the Florida House seat left vacant after the death of Villager Don Hahnfeldt. Company bookkeeper Michelle Yates donated $1,000 to Williams’ campaign. T&D Concrete donated $1,000 and the heads of the company, Terry and Glendora Yoder, each donated $1,000.
In February, Village Center Community Development District Chairman Stephen Drake donated $1,000 to Williams’ campaign. That same month, longtime Villages insurance executive G. Bradley Brown donated $1,000 and Villages information technology executive Dale Borrowman contributed $1,000. The Sumter County Republican Executive Committee also donated $1,000 that month.
The golf businesses have added its support to Williams’ campaign. In April, Legends Partnership LLC, which is located at Palmer Legends Country Club in The Villages, donated $500. Golf Management Solutions, which oversees golf courses here in Florida’s Friendliest Hometown, on Jan. 15 donated $1,000 to Williams campaign.
In his first run for school board in 2014, a 20-year school board member quit the race due to Williams success at fundraising. He coasted to victory without an opponent in the non-partisan race. The bulk of his contributions came from those with ties to golf in The Villages.
The school board seat is a paid position with members earning about $32,000 annually.
Williams grew up in Wildwood and is a graduate of Wildwood High School. His father was a long-time coach, educator and administrator at Wildwood High School.
