The Ocoee construction firm, Siwel Inc., owned by Charles R. Lewis, III, donated $1,000. Developer Scott Boyd’s McKinnon Groves and McKinnon Corp. each contributed $500. And the Realtors Political Advocacy Committee kicked in $500.

WastePro, the town’s sanitation vendor, also contributed $500.

McMullen also received $1,745 in contributions from the Mayor of Haines City; his campaign treasurer, based in Euless, Texas; and donors in Opa Locke, Hialeah, Cocoa, Orlando, Ocoee and Apopka.

Nine Oakland residents contributed to McMullen’s campaign.

Fewer residents still donated to Fulton’s campaign, which raised $982.97. Donors accounted for $285 of that — the remaining $757.97 was candidate loans to the campaign for specific expenses, like door hangers, yard signs and her qualifying fee. One donor was from Oakland. She had no corporate contributors.

Fulton has about $220 remaining in her campaign account while McMullen has $173 remaining in his, according to the campaign finance reports filed Friday.

University of Central Florida political science professor Aubrey Jewett, PhD, told VoxPopuli in a Thursday phone interview that he was “surprised” the candidates hadn't received more donations from residents in this election.

“Money is one of the most important factors, and we use how much money candidates are raising as one of the criteria for trying to decide how good a chance they have of winning,” Jewett said. “Money is not the only thing, but more times than not, the person who raises more, wins.”

So, lack of resident donations could signal election apathy, Jewett said. But he added it could also mean the candidates just didn't spend a lot of time fundraising.

“ If you're willing to put in a little shoe leather and talk to people and knock on doors …if you can knock on 250 doors over a period of a couple months,” he said, “and those people are locked in and they actually show up [to vote], it may be enough.”