With little cash, heavy debt and an expensive re-election campaign a near certainty, freshman Rep. Vern Buchanan (R) is enlisting the fundraising help of GOP House leadership to pay his campaign’s pile of bills.

Buchanan, who narrowly defeated Christine Jennings (D) in November in the still-contested 13th district House race, is holding a $1,000-a-head fundraising luncheon on Thursday at the Capitol Hill Club. The featured attraction at the lunch will be House Chief Deputy Minority Whip Rep. Eric Cantor (Va.).

Buchanan, the central Florida Republican who succeeds ex-Rep. Katherine Harris (R), reported having just $10,000 in cash and a whopping $1.5 million in debt after the first quarter of 2007. He spent more than $5 million of his own money on a 369-vote victory, which Jennings still is contesting in the courts and before the House Administration Committee.
— Matthew Murray