Buchanan holds fundraising edge in emerging District 16 race

Ethics issues and an ongoing Justice Department investigation have not hurt U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan’s fundraising for his congressional campaign.

Buchanan, R-Longboat Key, has relied heavily on out-of-state donors and special interest groups to build up more than $1 million for what many observers expect will be his toughest re-election campaign yet.

With $1.1 million on hand, Buchanan has a sizeable financial advantage over Sarasota Democrat Keith Fitzgerald, who has about $195,000 in the the bank, according campaign finance records released by the Federal Election Commission.

But Fitzgerald has turned some heads of his own by raising more than $224,000. He collected more money in three months than Buchanan’s 2010 Democratic challenger did in 18 months.

Since Oct. 1, Fitzgerald also has raised more money from individual donors than Buchanan. Fitzgerald has received $214,000 from individuals, compared with $190,000 for Buchanan.

Buchanan’s advantage comes from his year-old membership on the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, which has opened a pipeline of money from political action committees connected to some of the nation’s biggest companies and special interest groups.

Before 2011, Buchanan was on the House Transportation Committee and never raised more than 18 percent of his total donations from political action committees. But after his first year on Ways and Means, Buchanan has received about 32 percent of his donations from special interest PACs, according to the Center for Responsive Politics in Washington, D.C.

Because the Ways and Means Committee has wide jurisdiction and writes all of the nation’s tax policies, nearly every special interest group pays close attention to the panel, said center spokeswoman Viveca Novak.
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“The Ways and Means Committee is really a magnet for PAC money,” Novak said.

In just the last three months of 2011, Buchanan raised $115,000 from PACs alone. Those included PACs connected to Bank of America, 3M, CSX Corp., Darden Restaurants, Lockheed Martin and General Electric.

His committee membership also has opened up support from out-of-state donors. Since Oct. 1, Buchanan has raised about 80 percent of his $319,845 from out-of-state givers. For example, Buchanan collected about $57,000 from donors in Puerto Rico.

Most of Fitzgerald’s money — 96 percent — is from Florida donors.

But the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee also has picked Fitzgerald to be part of its “Red-to-Blue” program, which highlights Democrats believed to have the best chance to take Republican seats. The designation means Fitzgerald will get financial help from the DCCC, along with campaign help.

Meanwhile, hanging over Buchanan are two government inquiries.

In October, Buchanan verified that the U.S. Justice Department is investigating him for an undisclosed matter. Then the House Ethics Committee announced it was reviewing another, separate matter related to Buchanan.

Those issues have created a steady diet of negative news, but not enough to imperil his re-election, in part because the FEC issues have been around for several years, said David Wasserman of the Cook Political Report.

Still, Wasserman has upgraded the race and made it one of the five congressional races in Florida he considers most competitive. He said the district still favors Buchanan, though less so than in the past.

Buchanan and Fitzgerald are expected to battle for a newly drawn 16th Congressional District, which includes all of Sarasota and most of Manatee County.