This diary will be short and quick because I have to get to work, but I didn’t see Tudor’s fundraising results in the roundup.
12th Congressional District
Of the more than $1.35 million that Putnam, the No. 3 Republican in the U.S. House, has raised for his re-election campaign, his filing with the FEC this week shows he had nearly $672,000 still in the bank.
Democrat Douglas Tudor of Riverview, who is retired from the Navy, has raised more than $50,000, including a $25,000 loan to his campaign from himself. He reported $40,649 in the bank as of June 30.
I think that’s pretty good for someone who got started late, who is a family man with little to no connections in politics, and who just retired from the Navy at the end of February to run for this seat. It also looks like he is running a very efficient campaign, with about 80% of the cash he raised still on hand.
Hopefully he will catch on more from here. I think this is one of the most underreported races in the blogosphere. He’s a fighting dem that is unashamed about being a progressive, and he’s taking on the Republican establishment.
I’m sorry if I sound like I’m being arrogant here, but given that I don’t really know much about this district, and campaign activity news and fundraising news are the only ways I can have any sense of how we’re doing here.
Maybe, for example…
+ Tudor has an impressive and extremely efficient way of campaigning and stretching fundraised money for maximal effect?
+ he’s a really good fit for his district for reasons 1), 2), 3), etc.?
+ he’s well-known in this district for something non-political?
+ this district is military-base-heavy or veteran-heavy?
+ the rate at which he raised these $35000 or so is very impressive?
+ he has a small but growing group of extremely enthused grassroots supporters?
+ something else impressive?
It’s about time Howdy Doody was gone. He’s ineffective and has been a puppet for the GOP. However, $50K in the Tampa media market won’t get you far. One interesting fact is that this is the only Republican district in Florida with a Democratic registration advantage, yet it will take a Lawton Chiles candidate and DCCC funding to finally dislodge Howdy Doody.
Also, Democrats have made no doubt that Ric “Bush” Keller, Tom “Corrupt” Feeney, the twin brothers, and Ros-Lehtninen (my husband is a corrupt former US Attorney) are their main targets. The next three in line would be picking up Weldon’s seat, getting rid of Brown-Waite and finally retiring Young.
The best way for Putnam to defeat himself would to tell seniors to screw it and ignore the agriculture industry (oh…he’s already done both). Democrats should have chosen a very strong recruit here.
Which name do you use to describe Putnam more often?
I use Opie.
Much of the Democratic growth here may be a result of population growth in general.
Poinciana has a large Hispanic population and so does Davenport and Plant City.
Lakeland, the largest city and epicenter of the district, has a very large retiree community.
Temple Terrace, which is on the edge of the district, has a fairly young population due to its proximity to the Univ. of South Florida.
However, southern Polk County and Hillsborough continue to remain Republican.
Defeating Howdy Doody is not easy. It’s much more likely that the Republicans, who dominate the legislature, will redistrict and save him. However, ask Mario Diaz Balart and Tom Feeney about redistricting. Both created their own districts and are now in a fight for survival.
PS: Don’t expect a Feeney indictment anytime soon. Remember he was Speak of the House in Florida in 2000 and was one of the electors that proudly voted for George Bush. Now it’s time to return the favor to Feeney by voting him out of office.
I met Tudor at the Florida JJ and he gave a good speech to the Florida Netroots, so he seems like a good campaigner, but this is definitely a tough one. The best shot we probably had at was in 2000.
I also agree with others that Democrats are likely gaining in the district, however. Jean Reed, running on an environmental and responsible growth platform, won a county commission seat in 2006 and perhaps we can pick up another this year.
Dem County Supervisor of Elections Lori Edwards has been hiring Spanish poll workers, so maybe that will help with the increasing number of Puerto Ricans in the northern parts of the district. And even the new USF campus might help if it brings in science/technology-focused students and workers who are more likely to vote Democratic.
So in the long term, I think this district will eventually even go to the Democratic column for presidential elections. Well it’s not even excessively too far away at the moment (Bush got 55% and 58%).