Rep. Deutsch has $4 million in war chest for Senate run [Florida]

MIAMI -- U.S. Rep. Peter Deutsch has topped the $4 million mark in his campaign for Florida's open U.S. Senate seat, extending his fund-raising lead heading into the election year.

Deutsch, a Fort Lauderdale-area Democrat, raised about $800,000 during the year's final fund-raising quarter that ended Dec. 31, spokesman Ryan Hampton said Friday.

Democrat Alex Penelas, the mayor of Miami-Dade County, raised nearly $400,000 during the quarter, increasing his war chest to about $2 million.

Former Education Commissioner Betty Castor, meanwhile, did not disclose preliminary numbers but campaign officials said they expected to show increases from previous quarters.

The three Democrats vying for retiring Sen. Bob Graham's seat faced an abbreviated fund-raising quarter as the three-term senator mulled over his future and contributors went into holiday mode. The numbers were preliminary; campaigns are required to file reports by the end of the January.

Deutsch, a prolific fund-raiser who brought a hefty congressional account to the race, entered the quarter with about a $1.6 million advantage over Penelas. His quarter included a New York fund-raiser hosted by developer Donald Trump that raked in $100,000.

"The congressman worked very hard and we got an incredible response from around the state and around the country," Hampton said.

Fred Menachem, Penelas' finance chairman, said the mayor canceled more than 20 fund-raising events in deference to Graham while the senator was deciding whether to seek re-election. Penelas raised about $300,000 during a birthday fund-raiser in December at the tony Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables.

"I think that all evidence is that we've got a great deal of support, not in only terms of votes at the end of the day but in terms of money," said Danae Jones, a Penelas campaign spokeswoman.

Jeff Garcia, Castor's campaign manager, said the former University of South Florida president will show "a significant increase" in fund-raising during the final quarter compared with previous periods. Castor, who has led in early polling, had about $460,000 cash on hand through Sept. 30.

Castor has campaigned extensively across Florida and benefited from name recognition built during two statewide campaigns in 1986 and 1990. While Graham's decision-making process disabled fund-raising operations for the Senate contenders, Castor traveled to about 20 counties in the state.

"All we can hope to do is keep building and building and do better," Garcia said.

None of the Republican candidates disclosed preliminary finance figures. The field includes former U.S. Rep. Bill McCollum of Longwood, the party's nominee for Senate in 2000; House Speaker Johnnie Byrd of Plant City; state Sen. Dan Webster of the Orlando area; and Miami lawyer Larry Klayman. Former Housing Secretary Mel Martinez of Orlando is expected to enter the race soon and U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris of Sarasota is said to be considering a campaign.

Deutsch has plenty of money . . . to tear down his opponents in the primary and maybe take the nomination. Fine by me! I find it very telling that Castor wouldn't cough up her fundraising number. That's been her big question mark, whether she could raise money. And it looks like she can't.


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2 posted on 01/03/2004 7:39:25 PM PST by Support Free Republic (Freepers post from sun to sun, but a fundraiser bot's work is never done.)

OMG...Deutsch is as dumb as a bag of rocks!!! PERFECT SDumocrat Senator ftom FloriDUH! My gosh...he's about as stupid as they come...other than Senator Graham, that is. Deutsch has that idiotic, perpetual smile that the Floriduh voters like....eeegads. Maybe it's because he's a fellow Jewish fellow. He is DUMB!!!

This race is starting to look ominous. The only Republcian to do any serious fundraising, Speaker Johnnie Byrd, is a controversial candidate.

Strange, Castor isn't willing to reveal her fundraising progress, but she was all to eager to reveal an internal poll that showed her leading in both the primary and general elections.

Yes, this is going to be a serious race. Dubya and JEB should stay out of it until the Republican Party selects the nominee in a completely open process. After that they've got the chance to elect a Republican if they'll provide the necessary financial support. Florida, no matter how much the Bushbots want to think otherwise, is no slam dunk for the President. The only thing that saved JEB from a very tight relection was McBride demonstrating he was nearly brain dead in response to Tim Russert's questions. Counting on the Dems to self destruct is, IMHO, a pretty risky move.

It would sicken me that ANYONE from the Broward/Palm Beach axis of evil would win statewide. I knew Peter Deutsch would have an advantage, due to wealthy liberal Gold Coast Democrats from Miami Beach/Lauderdale/Boca Raton/Jupiter. etc.

8 posted on 01/03/2004 8:14:14 PM PST by Clemenza (East side, West side, all around the town. Tripping the light fantastic on the sidewalks of New York)

I would like to see Castor and Pinelas drain Deutch's treasury in the primary- leave him bruised and broke for the general. Martinez needs to quit stalling, announce his candidacy, and begin fundraising. Florida is an expensive state to run in.

9 posted on 01/03/2004 11:02:01 PM PST by jagrmeister (I'm not a conservative. I don't seek to conserve, I seek to reform.)

Dubya and Jeb have more political acumen than all the rank and file put together. I have no confidence in the Republican rank and file's abilities to do anything right as far as electoral politics. They should intervene and prevent a gory primary that will injure the eventual nominee in the general.

10 posted on 01/03/2004 11:04:03 PM PST by jagrmeister (I'm not a conservative. I don't seek to conserve, I seek to reform.)

11 posted on 01/04/2004 12:14:27 AM PST by Tall_Texan (Happy 2004 - the year we put Republicanism into overdrive.)

You're right. Normally, by this time, Rove the RINO-maker has somebody already lined up and all but endorsed. The only safe bet is that, whomever it is, they won't be a conservative.

12 posted on 01/04/2004 12:18:39 AM PST by Tall_Texan (Happy 2004 - the year we put Republicanism into overdrive.)

We can do better than the braindead tactic of labeling one another RINO's. You are not the final arbiter of what it means to be a Republican and neither am I. I'm not the only one here tired of people using those kinds of labels to exclude people from the party.

13 posted on 01/04/2004 1:27:17 AM PST by jagrmeister (I'm not a conservative. I don't seek to conserve, I seek to reform.)

I agree. Talent, Cornyn, Chambliss, Sununu, and Lindsey Graham are hardly RINOs. Coleman, Alexander, and Dole have been faithful party voters, probably more so than expected. People are very ungrateful for all he did to win back the Senate in 2002. I realize being the majority hasn't changed things as much as we'd have liked, but the problem hasn't been in new GOP Senators that Rove helped elect. I hope Rove once again does a great job clearing the field for these so-called RINO candidates in 2004. We'll probably have much better results and actually win again.

When JEB picked McCollum over Gallagher in 2000 he cost McCollum some of the Gallagher supporters who, had Gallagher been defeated in a primary, would have done more in the campaign. Dubya and JEB should stay out of it, they hurt the Republican Party of Florida every time they tell the rank and file they know better.

The rats control very little of Florida. That's not an accident. lil pete could have 4billion to spend and any one of lots of GOPers could wack him. Short of picking somebody out of the phone book, I don't see lil petey beating anyone state wide. The rest of the state is a lot saner than the rat's nest he represents.

16 posted on 01/04/2004 6:55:30 AM PST by jmaroneps37 ( Support how-odd? in the primaries, get us 4 more senate seats! hilarity clinocchio will never run.)

I'm inclined to agree where Deutsch is concerned. My sense from the Democrats I've spoken to is that Betty Castor will be the nominee. If that's the case, I don't think we can write her off as unelectable. My guess, regardless of who the Republican nominee is, is for a close, hard fought race. The best thing the White House, Governor's office and RPOF can do to improve the eventual Republican nominee's chances is to leave the process entirely open, let the primary voters decide and then generously support the candidate financially.

Do you really think that after a contentious primary in which McCollum would be likely inclined to criticize Gallagher and his record, that Gallagher's supporters would be MORE likely to support McCollum in the general? Unless things are different in Florida, the rank and file have screwed it up much more often than Dubya.

18 posted on 01/04/2004 2:55:29 PM PST by jagrmeister (I'm not a conservative. I don't seek to conserve, I seek to reform.)

Yes, I do. There were a lot of disgruntaled Gallagher supporters who basically sat out the campaign. I know a few. Incidentally, I supported McCollum enthusiastically throughout.

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