Christine Jennings
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
This article documents a current event. Information may change rapidly as the event progresses. |
Christine Jennings (born November 26, 1945) is a banker and a Democratic politician.
In 2006, Jennings, a self-made banking millionaire, was the Democratic nominee for U. S. Congress to represent Florida's 13th congressional district. The seat was left open when incumbent Katherine Harris ran for the U.S. Senate.
In the 2006 election, 237,861 votes were cast, but for unknown reasons, 18,382 of the electronic ballots in Sarasota County recorded no vote for a congressional candidate. By the tally of the remaining votes, Jennings received 373 fewer votes than her opponent, Republican Vern Buchanan. Of the counted votes in Sarasota County, Jennings won 52.8%. Sarasota County was the only county in the district where the Democrat won more votes than her opponent, Buchanan. [1] An audit of the machines found nothing wrong, and it is believed that some voters failed to vote for the Congressional Candidate because it was on the same page as the crowded Governor's race. Other voters who failed to vote in the Congressional race initially were able to catch the mistake on the review page of the ballot.
Jennings, a former Republican[2], never graduated from college and started her career as a bank teller at 17. In 1992, she founded Sarasota Bank, which Colonial Bank bought in 2003 for $40.5 million. [3]
In her career as a banker, Jennings rose to become President, CEO, Chairman of the Board and Director of Sarasota Bank. She also served as President of the Sarasota Downtown Association and President of the Sarasota Film Festival.
Contents |
[edit] Congressional elections
[edit] 2004
In 2004, Jennings lost the 2004 primary for the seat to the eventual nominee, Jan Schneider, by 47 percent to 38 percent in a four-candidate race, despite outspending Schneider by a ratio of nearly 4 to 1. "Her supporters attribute this outcome, though, to Jennings’ late start, and they say her business background gives her both better cross-party appeal and stronger fundraising potential." [4]
[edit] 2006
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." [5]
Poll numbers showed Jennings with a lead, which varied from 2 percent to 12 percent based on 5 polls. [6]
In November, Jennings faced Republican Vern Buchanan, a wealthy automobile dealer who won a bitterly-fought Republican primary with 32.3% of the vote. Buchanan's fund-raising receipts have more than tripled those of Jennings'.
Jennings was endorsed by the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, the major newspaper in District 13. [7]
After the votes were counted, Buchanan narrowly led Jennings. A recount is taking place in Sarasota County, where there were almost 18,000 undervotes in the race. Some sources have mentioned a possible revote, but that is a rare occurrence in Florida, and would be a first in Florida for a Federal office.
[edit] External links
 |
This article about a Florida politician is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
