Florida: Vern Buchanan Pulls In Almost $500,000 in First Quarter
Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-Fla.), under growing ethical scrutiny, will report an impressive $484,000 in fundraising receipts in the first three months of this year, according to an internal memo obtained by Roll Call.
The campaign had about $1.5 million in cash on hand at the end of March, according to the memo to supporters from Celena Thibodeaux, Buchanan’s finance director.
It was unclear if the Congressman’s first-quarter campaign haul included contributions or loans from himself. A call and email to a campaign spokeswoman were not immediately returned this afternoon.
Buchanan, the vice-chairman for finance for the National Republican Congressional Committee, is seen as a top target by Florida and national Democrats, especially after a front-page New York Times story reported an apparently “widening” federal investigations into the Congressman. But his fundraising in the first quarter shows that he continues to have strong financial support and resources available for a campaign.
his appearance earlier this year with Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio)
Buchanan will face likely Democratic nominee Keith Fitzgerald, a professor, in the newly configured 16th district, which slightly favors Republicans. Fitzgerald has not yet announced his fundraising for the first quarter.
Roll Call rates the race as Likely Republican.