FL 13th Vern Buchanan reputation questioned now.. He should NOT have won last year.

[madfloridian]

When Vern was running against a Democrat last year, Christine Jennings, I remember wondering how he could be so far ahead of her even in August. By that time in 2008 there were at least 8 lawsuits against him.

Yet he was leading her by 18 points. The Democrats were not speaking out about the outrage of his having 8 lawsuits against him. I think Christine ran an ad or two, but there was not much that was heard on the news. This is Katherine Harris' old district. The previous candidate, Jan Schneider, ran very well against her...amazingly well. But the party honchos said no, Jan. And she left the race.

Now the lawsuit count is up to 14.

Lawsuits cloud Rep. Vern Buchanan's political future

From the St. Pete Times:

SARASOTA — Flush with cash and buoyed by a big reelection victory last fall, U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan seemed a prime Republican contender for U.S. senator or Florida governor. But on May 12, the millionaire Sarasota car dealer announced he would forgo a run for statewide office in favor of seeking a third House term.

"Representing Florida's 13th District in the U.S. House is an honor and a privilege," Buchanan said. "I look forward to the opportunity to continue serving the people.''

What Buchanan didn't say: Just three days earlier he had been in Orlando, giving a deposition in a lawsuit that accuses him of breaking his promise to reward a former employee who saved a real estate deal involving Buchanan's Sarasota Ford. It was a deal in which Buchanan and his company "made out like bandits,'' the seller says.

And it is just one of 14 lawsuits — all accusing Buchanan and his auto stores of shady practices — that may torpedo any ambitions for higher office, at least in the foreseeable future.

This was all known last year, yet he won the race for Congress.

From The Ledger from August 2008:

Charges Mount for Rep. Buchanan

SARASOTA | A lawsuit filed in Sarasota County on Friday levies new allegations against U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan and his Florida car dealerships, including sexual harassment, death threats and federal income tax evasion.

It is the eighth in a series of cases that former employees and one consumer have brought against the freshman Sarasota congressman since May.

The new charges come from the highest-level former Buchanan employee yet to file suit - a former controller at Sarasota 500 LLC, the company registered with the state to operate Sarasota Ford.

So all this was known, yet he won the election. I guess most people don't pay attention.

Here is an ad, the second ad I believe, that Jennings ran against him.

Where's Vern?

In reality, voluminous court records show, Buchanan left Michigan just as American Speedy verged on a spectacular collapse. Angry franchise owners accused him of mismanagement, deceit and outright fraud. Michigan's attorney general was threatening to shut down the company. In 1992, American Speedy landed in bankruptcy court, followed by dozens of store owners, some of whom lost their life savings. Buchanan, meanwhile, was building a spacious lakefront home in Tampa as questions arose over what had become of a $15.4-million loan from Merrill Lynch intended to help prop up the company.

"There was a pot full of money from Merrill Lynch to get things going,'' says Alvin Feingold, who bought a franchise in Tampa shortly before American Speedy went bankrupt. "The fact that Vern supposedly ran off with all that money didn't make anyone very happy.''

Buchanan says he had no obligation to repay the loan then, and he offers no apologies.

From her site:

This second commercial focuses on our opponent's refusal to answer questions about the many lawsuits he and his businesses are facing.

Here is the first ad at You Tube:

Our Congressman In Court

The campaign's first ad, about Vern Buchanan's history of more than 180 lawsuits against him and his businesses.

I remember the media covering it in print in a couple of papers. I do not remember seeing it on TV. There may have been more in district, but a friend says she did not think so.

I wondered how Jennings, a far more capable candidate, could not beat him when he was showing such obvious signs of being corrupt.

It could have been election difficulties in that county, of course.

It could have been also the cautious way Democrats run races here. That race was being pretty much controlled by the DCCC under Rahm, and they usually did not put up big fights here in Florida. They made it clear that Jan was out, Christine was in, and the gravy train consultants were in control.

The Gravy Train...how consultants take over campaigns completely.

These are pages from the Chapter entitled The Gravy Train.
This statement is from Brad Carson. He is telling of his bad experiences with the DC consultants sent to work his campaign.
Page 74.

"They're above you in the food chain," said Carson. "You have to negotiate about what you do in your commercials. They call up the DSCC and complain if you're not doing the 'right thing.' They're a source of intelligence to people back in D.C. And these guys are all powerful people, prominent people. They aren't even working for you. It's an amazing thing in a lot of ways, really amazing." Carson lost the election 53 to 41 to Tom Coburn."

And then there was Missouri's Nancy Farmer.

Faced with an incumbent who was clearly going to raise three
times as much, Farmer wasn’t in the position to tell the party committee to leave her alone; that as state treasurer, she already knew how to win a statewide race in Missouri. So not only did the DSCC pick almost all the consultants for her campaign, they eventually forced significant changes in her campaign staff, including ousting
her hand-picked campaign manager—the same one who had successfully managed Farmer’s previous campaigns—in midstream and bringing in one of their own. Farmer lost to Bond by a 56-43 margin.

I don't know the details of Jennings campaign, and Jan ain't talking much about it yet. But I do know that there was no way Buchanan should have won that seat.

Buchanan's problems are being more publicized this time around. But he should never have won that election with 8 lawsuits going on even then.

[FLAprogressive]

1. you had my hopes up -- I thought you meant not running for the house. Jennings is a loser Blue Dog.

Not much better than ol' Vern the used car salesman.

[madfloridian]

3. Oops, I had worded it wrong.. I fixed it.

Not going to run for state office. He should not run at all with that shadow over him.

Jennings was very mild and should have been more pushy. Rahm controlled those campaigns.

[liberalpragmatist]

2. Isn't this the seat that Dems lost in '06 because of voting machine malfunctions?

I remember Christine Jennings losing by 100 or so votes, when several hundred votes were deleted by the e-voting machines.

[madfloridian]

4. There were some questions, and I think a lawsuit.

But his election stood.

He was ahead by 18% in August last year even with the 8 lawsuits that were known.

I think there have always been problems in that district, but nothing was proven.

[MarjorieG]

5. I think 18,000 votes disappeared on junk equipment.

[madfloridian]

6. She tried to fight it, but the judge ruled against her.

Dec. 30, 2006

TALLAHASSEE - A Leon County judge on Friday nearly derailed Christine Jennings' long-shot bid for Congress, ruling that the Southwest Florida Democrat has no right to inspect the secret software used in electronic voting machines in Sarasota County.

The tersely worded decision by Circuit Judge William Gary is a major blow because Jennings contends in a lawsuit that the ATM-styled machines used in Sarasota malfunctioned and cost her the votes that would have propelled her to victory in November.

ES&S, the company that makes the voting machines as well as ones used in Broward and Miami-Dade counties, says the machines did not malfunction and that the software is a trade secret.

''It's shocking that there is more concern for protecting a company's profits rather than protecting our right to vote,'' said Jennings, who said she would appeal the ruling. ``The secrecy and question marks surrounding electronic voting is creating a real crisis in confidence among America's voters, and the only way to resolve this is by conducting a thorough review by outside experts.''

Friday's ruling came hours after House Democratic leaders in Washington announced that they would allow Republican Vern Buchanan, who beat Jennings by 369 votes, to be seated when Congress reconvenes next week. Despite what happens in the courts, Congress has the ultimate power to decide who can be seated.

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/16348754.htm

[madfloridian]

7. Article implies the lawsuits would hurt a state run, but not congressional.

I find that such a weird thing to say.

http://www.timesoftheinternet.com/81100.html

"Buchanan, a Sarasota millionaire, said last month he would forgo runs for Florida governor or the U.S. Senate, instead opting to seek a third term in the U.S. House of Representatives. He didn't say at the time that had just delivered a deposition in a lawsuit accusing him of going back on a promise to reward an employee who had helped him in a lucrative real estate deal, The St. Petersburg, Fla., Times reported Monday.

The newspaper said the suit is only one of 14 facing Buchanan. His attorneys argued in court documents last year that the suits were politically motivated, but months after he won reelection in November the suits remain and could torpedo his statewide political ambitions, analysts said.

"It's very common when you've had a tough battle at home that involves lawsuits that you decide to back away from those statewide races and stay put,'' Susan McManus, a University of South Florida political scientist, told the newspaper. "His constituents know him, but it would be a more difficult thing to sell to Florida at large."