Jacob Ogles
U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan said he’s raised $3 million for his reelection campaign in Florida’s 16th Congressional District.
The second quarter report from the Sarasota Republican, which is not yet publicly available, will show receipts totaling $670,000, according to the campaign.
That includes contributions from more than 3,300 individual donors. That’s a record for Buchanan as far as individual contributions to the campaign in any single quarter over the seven-term incumbent’s career.
“Vern’s record-breaking support from people in the community is a testament to his effective, bipartisan leadership fighting for seniors, veterans, middle-class families and the environment,” said Buchanan campaign manager Max Goodman.
Buchanan this year faces Rep. Margaret Good, who won a right-leaning statehouse district in 2018 over Buchanan’s son James. She won reelection in November that year by a closer margin over former Rep. Ray Pilon.
Good hasn’t released numbers for the second quarter of the year.
When the first quarter of the year closed, Buchanan had $1,176,675 in cash in hand to Good’s $737,262.
Buchanan, at that time, boasted around $2.3 million in total receipts, which included a $250,000 loan. The car sales magnate remains one of the wealthiest members of Congress, according to the Center For Responsive Politics.
It’s unclear whether Buchanan contributed any further loans in his second quarter filing.
Campaign officials say the successful fundraising quarter — in the face of a pandemic limiting traditional fundraising — came shortly after Buchanan received national plaudits.
The U.S. Humane Society named Buchanan Legislator of the Year in June, the first time the organization ever bestowed that honor on a House member for the second time in their legislative career.
He also scored high on this year’s Lugar Center Bipartisan Index, ranking at No. 58 among the 437 members of the House.
The reputation for working across the aisle served Buchanan well in past elections, outside of a razor-thin 369-vote margin that brought him into office in 2006.
Despite a national blue wave, he defeated Democrat David Shapiro by 10% in 2018. In the last presidential cycle in 2016, Buchanan won almost 60% of the vote over Democrat Jan Schneider while Donald Trump won the district by 11% over Hillary Clinton.
