Jacob Ogles
U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan easily won a Republican Primary as he seeks a 10th term in the U.S. House. The Longboat Key Republican defeated an anti-establishment challenge from Inspiration Academy founder Eddie Speir.
He now advances to a General Election against lawyer Jan Schneider, who won the Democratic nomination in a separate Primary in Florida’s 16th Congressional District.
Election results with most votes counted in all counties show Buchanan won 61% of the vote, while Speir won 39%. Meanwhile, Schneider led lawyer Trent Miller with almost 66% of the Democratic vote.
“It’s my greatest honor to represent the men and women of Manatee and Hillsborough counties,” Buchanan said. “I look forward to a resounding victory in November.”
But especially after redistricting put the most liberal bastions of Sarasota outside the district, the GOP Primary was Tuesday night’s marquee contest in the region.
That’s reflected in the money spent so far on the race. Through July, Speir spent nearly $406,000 on the contest, most of that out of pocket, while Buchanan pumped out close to $1.5 million.
Last cycle, the incumbent beat Sarasota Republican Martin Hyde with a staggering 86% of the Primary vote, but sources close to the campaign acknowledged before Tuesday that it would be hard to repeat that margin.
Buchanan, Republican Co-chair of Florida’s congressional delegation, spent significant funds stressing his effectiveness in Congress. A TV ad recounted the incumbent passed 33 bills under four Presidents.
“He’s done it for our veterans, for our seniors, for our children, for Southwest Florida,” a narrator says in the ad.
At the same time, Speir tried to use Buchanan’s long record as a cudgel, painting the nine-term House member as an establishment politician. Speir painted himself, meanwhile, as the ultimate outsider — and plenty of Republican leaders in Manatee distanced themselves from him as a result.
The private school founder’s first taste of media attention came when Gov. Ron DeSantis included him among trustee appointments in a headline-making conservative makeover of New College of Florida. Amid heavy scrutiny, the Florida Senate confirmed all of DeSantis’ appointments except one: Speir.
He has since fought with members of the Manatee County Commission, the DeSantis-appointed Supervisor of Elections and the Republican Party for a neighboring county, where Republican leaders denied him a speaking slot at a rally where Buchanan enjoyed high billing.
“Somebody’s got to stand up and let people know that RINOs, while they’re pretending like they’re standing up for the rights, that’s not the case,” Speir told press outside that event.
In the meantime, Speir fought with press as his use of private school resources and family members to run his campaign drew questions. He responded by accusing news outlets and local Republican clubs of being paid off by Buchanan and his team.
Buchanan hasn’t wrestled with local organizations, though he was involved in his share of fights in Washington.
The senior Republican on the House Ways and Means Committee was snubbed after former Speaker Kevin McCarthy and allies on a GOP steering committee named Missouri U.S. Rep. Jason Smith as Chair. That prompted a reportedly colorful (and for most publications unprintable) exchange with the Speaker on the floor.
After McCarthy’s ouster, Buchanan favored Majority Leader Steve Scalise as a replacement, but when that bid fell apart, Buchanan played a key role in scuttling Freedom Caucus favorite Jim Jordan’s bid for a takeover.
Buchanan ultimately was seen alongside Speaker Mike Johnson when the Louisiana Republican emerged from a GOP conference meeting as a unanimous choice for new Speaker. Soon, Buchanan hosted Johnson in Florida for a first major fundraiser for the party leader, bringing in $1.4 million and helping silence wide concerns on the new House leader’s ability to rally dollars. That money this Fall could make the difference in whether Republicans keep control of the chamber in November.
On the Democratic side, Schneider will serve as a familiar foil to Buchanan in the Fall. She has run for Congress in the Sarasota-Bradenton area even longer than Buchanan, earning national attention when she challenged former U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris, then later running against Buchanan on repeated occasions, including in 2022.
Miller tried to foil the perennial candidate. The founding President of the Lakewood Ranch Democrats Club outspent Schneider this cycle. Still, that only means Miller through July spent more than $32,000 to Schneider’s $14,000, a fraction of the burn rate on the GOP side.
Buchanan has faced Primary and General Election challenges in the past and has come out strong. He won his first election in 2006, edging Democrat Christine Jennings by a razor-thin 369-vote margin, but since then has become a mainstay in regional politics.
