Christine Jennings

Christine Jennings is the Democratic candidate in the 2008 congressional elections for the 13th Congressional District (map) of Florida. She is the Democratic nominee seeking to challenge incumbent Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-Fla.). She ran unopposed in the primary will took place on August 26, 2008.

Biography
Born in Ohio, Jennings moved to Florida in 1984. Jennings started her career as a bank teller and eventually went on to founding her own bank. In 1992, she founded Sarasota Bank and in 2003 bought Colonial Bank for $40.5 million. Jennings never graduated from college.

In 2004 Jennings lost the Democratic primary to challenge Rep. Katherine Harris.

2006 elections
Jennings was the Democratic Party nominee in the 2006 congressional election for the Thirteenth Congressional District of Florida. She ran against Republican Vern Buchanan to replace Rep. Katherine Harris, who ran for U.S. Senate.

Jennings won a 61.8% of the vote in the September 5, 2006 Democratic primary, having heavily outraised Schneider during the campaign. CQPolitics.com wrote that while Schneider had run game challenges to Harris as the Democratic nominee in 2002 and 2004, [her] strongest appeal was to more liberal elements of the 13th District constituency, and many Democratic officials thought Jennings’ business background would make her a more viable general election contender."

Jennings has struck a moderate tone and has rarely approached the issue of Iraq in the campaign. Jennings supports a balanced budget, is pro-choice, supports embryonic stem cell research, and is for civil unions between gay couples.

Election dispute and challenge
The 2006 congressional election between Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-Fla.) and Christine Jennings was decided by just 370 votes. In 17,000 to 18,000 ballots, voters did not choose either candidate. In election administration terminology, this is known as an "undervote" and may indicate a failure of Sarasota's direct-recording electronic (DRE) voting machines. The Help America Vote Act of 2002 was passed to correct election administration errors.

In May, 2007, the Committee created a special task force to investigate the 18,000 ballot undervote.

In February, 2008, the GAO released a report stating that the touch-screen voting machines were not the cause of the undervote. The report posited that the undervote was likely due either to poor ballot design or voters simply skipping the race altogether. Regardless of the cause, the controversy surrounding the 2006 Sarasota County undervote led Florida lawmakers to pass a ban on touch-screen voting machines (except for disabled voters) which will go into effect later in 2008.

2008 elections
Jennings is the Democratic nominee seeking to challenge Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-Fla.) in the 2008 congressional elections. She ran unopposed in the primary will took place on August 26, 2008.

Meet the Cash Constituents
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Campaign contributions
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Committees and Affiliations
Jennings will be assigned committees if and when she is elected to Congress.

External resources

 * Christine Jennings for Congress (official 2006 campaign site).
 * Christine Jennings 2008 (official 2008 campaign site)
 * 2008 Race Tracker page on Florida's 13th Congressional District

Local blogs and discussion sites

 * Fla Politics
 * Can't Keep Quiet
 * Sarasota Livin'
 * Pensacola Beach Blog

External articles

 * Adam C. Smith, "A congressional race as big as the Ritz?," St. Petersburg Times, April 18, 2004.
 * Rachel Kapochunas, "Buchanan, Jennings Will Face Off to Succeed Harris in Fla. 13," CQ Politics, September 6, 2006.
 * "On the issues: Christine Jennings," Sarasota Herald-Tribune, November 6, 2006.
 * Jeremy Wallace, "Jennings to run for Congress again," Herald Tribune, July 20, 2007.

Campaign contact information
E-mail: christine At christinejenningsforcongress.com Phone: (941) 366-8121 Fax: (941) 952-1015 Mail: PO Box 49135 Sarasota, FL 34230