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Fitzgerald to challenge Buchanan

Posted Oct 6, 2011 by William March

Updated Oct 6, 2011 at 11:32 AM

Keith Fitzgerald, a political science professor at New College in Sarasota, has announced he’ll challenge U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan for the 13th District congressional seat.

Fitzgerald served two terms in the state House starting in 2006, but was unseated in 2010 by Republican Ray Pilon.

Buchanan is a three-term incumbent who won the seat when former U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris left it to run for the Senate in 2006. A wealthy auto dealer, he’s been dogged by allegations of illegal contributions to his campaigns from employees of his auto dealerships.

Buchanan won the seat with an extremely narrow victory in 2006, but has since won re-election twice by healthy margins. Nonetheless, Democrats hope he could be vulnerable because of the campaign finance scandals and because of the possibility the district boundaries will change in ways favorable to Democrats in the 2012 redistricting.

In his announcement, Fitzgerald made it clear his campaign will focus on an area Democrats think will be profitable for them in 2012, charges that Republicans are seeking radical changes to Medicare and Social Security.

“Instead of focusing on creating jobs or helping families struggling to make ends meet, Congressman Vern Buchanan has tried to end Medicare and protect tax giveaways for big oil while running from one scandal to the next,” Fitzgerald said in his announcement statement.

The district covers all of Sarasota, Desoto and Hardee counties, most of Manatee County and a small portion of Charlotte County.