Vern Buchanan, outraised in July, still hold solid cash advantage on Margaret Good

With weak name recognition, Margaret Good is falling behind Vern Buchanan in new polling.

With the general election approaching, Rep. Vern Buchanan holds a $600,000 cash advantage on Democrat Margaret Good. But she outraised him in July, and most of his advantage comes from out of his own pocket.

Neither Buchanan nor Good face primaries in Florida’s 16^th Congressional District, so the game for now remains counting money and biding time.

Buchanan has already spent $1.46 million as he heads into another election cycle on the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee target list.

Comparatively, Good has spent nearly $758,000. In total, the state Representative raised nearly $1.8 million to challenge the seven-term Congressman.

But Buchanan has put together $3.05 million for his reelection campaign, including $500,000 in loans.

In the month of July, Buchanan netted $70,947 into his coffers, all of it through individual contributions. He spent $102,557 during the month.

Good, meanwhile, raked in a net $152,884. At the same time, she blew through $170,923 for the month. That means she’s raising money at a faster rate than Buchanan, but she’s started spending it faster than it’s coming in.

The Democratic challenger enjoyed a lift from making the DCCC’s Red to Blue list in July. That’s a sign she’s continuing to enjoy good standing in Washington, D.C. despite some documented missteps in spending this cycle.

As for Buchanan, he didn’t throw any more personal funds into his campaign this month, as he did in the first and second quarter of the year. But there’s likely more ammunition in his own bank account. He remains the fourth wealthiest member of the House, Roll Call reports, behind only Reps. Greg Gianforte, Nancy Pelosi and Michael McCaul.

Buchanan has long been in the sights of the DCCC ever since his first election win in 2006 by 369 votes.

Good was recruited to challenge Buchanan this year after defeating the Congressman’s son James in a nationally watched statehouse special election in 2018. She defended the seat later the same year but won by a much smaller margin over former state Rep. Ray Pilon.