PANAMA CITY — In the U.S. House District 2 race, supporters are choosing sides, and almost no one is hedging their bets.
As of the most recent campaign finance report filing, which are current to March 31, only three parties have given to both Republican Rep. Steve Southerland of Panama City and Democratic challenger Gwen Graham of Tallahassee. Two of those giving to both are individuals — Billy Archer and James C. Smith — and the other is the National Air Traffic Controllers Association.
The race is polarizing enough, said Southerland’s campaign spokesman, Matt McCullough, and that’s not a surprise.
“There are significant differences between the two candidates, and Congressman Southerland’s commitment to a pro-growth, pro-freedom agenda stands in stark contrast to Gwen Graham’s agenda, which we believe is out of step with North and Northwest Florida values, so we wouldn’t expect there to be much overlap in support from third-party organizations,” McCullough said.
Eric Conrad, spokesman for Graham’s campaign, said pretty much the same thing in an email.
“Many in North Florida already see the clear contrast between Congressman Southerland’s Washington insider brand of politics and Gwen’s North Florida–focused campaign, and we are proud to have the support of Florida teachers, farmers and small business owners,” Conrad wrote.
It hasn’t always been this way.
In the heated 2010 campaign that would see Republicans take a U.S. House majority, several groups and individuals donated to both the incumbent and the challenger. Koch Industries — owned by the libertarian billionaire Koch brothers, who helped found and finance the pro-GOP Americans for Prosperity political advocacy organization — donated thousands of dollars to Democrat incumbent Allen Boyd and Southerland, as did the National Rifle Association.
Yet, the Publix supermarket chain, the Florida Farm Bureau, professional services firm Ernst & Young, the National Association of Health Underwriters and Burger King all split their 2010 donations, as well.
Some PACs hedge
These are the types of groups that traditionally would give to candidates on both sides of the aisle, said Florida State University associate professor of political science Brad Gomez. Their concerns are more financial and less ideological, so it matters less whether a candidate is liberal or conservative. In fact, they often need support from both sides.
Even the NRA donates to a few Democrats.
“Traditional PACs often contribute to both candidates so as to hedge their bets, but this is not the case when it comes to individual donors, who are less strategic and more expressive in their behavior,” Gomez said in an email.
Gomez said he had not reviewed filings in the Graham-Southerland race, so he didn’t address it specifically.
“Non-connected PACs, which are growing in number, tend to be organized by ideological groups or single-issue groups. They tend to support only those who agree with their positions,” Gomez wrote.
It could turn out that interest groups hadn’t written their checks by March 31. More recent filings are due to be released this month, and they might paint a different picture. But the most recent filings show deep divisions between the two candidates and their respective supporters.
So far, everyone seems to be donating, and based on ideology even the dentists and accountants have taken sides.
The American Dental Association has given to Southerland but not Graham; the American Institute of CPAs supports Graham but not Southerland.
Logic of contributions
When the Florida Farm Bureau donates to a political candidate, it’s not looking for favors or special treatment, said Adam Basford, who was the Florida Farm Bureau’s national legislative affairs coordinator in 2010 and is now its director of state legislative affairs.
Campaigns are expensive, and the bureau wants to help its friends, he said.
“We are supporting people that we believe would be able to effectively support agriculture,” he said.
Southerland, of Panama City, sits on the House’s Committee on Natural Resources, which handles fisheries, wildlife and oceans, and the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, which includes the Coast Guard and highways and transit.
In Southerland’s first campaign, the Florida Farm Bureau supported both Southerland and Boyd equally. The bureau wrote checks for $1,000 to each during the 2010 election cycle.
Boyd was the incumbent and a farmer who understood and supported farmers, Basford said.
The Farm Bureau supported Boyd’s campaigns for years, but his votes on Obamacare and cap and trade legislation, with its controversial “carbon tax” proposal, rubbed many North Florida farmers the wrong way, and the bureau decided to meet with Southerland, Basford said. After the meeting, they jumped off the Boyd bandwagon.
“We felt like Steve Southerland was worthy of being congressman in that district,” Basford said.
The Farm Bureau still feels that way and has no plans to support Graham, Basford said.
“If you’re in a baseball game and you have a pitcher that’s throwing heat in the fifth inning, why would you go to the bullpen?” Basford said.
In 2010, Scott Clemons, the former Democratic mayor of Panama City, donated to Southerland and Boyd equally, but he said he was in a unique position. He served with Boyd in the Legislature, and he counts Southerland as an old friend.
“First of all, that’s not a common practice to me,” Clemons said of his support for opposing candidates. “I was in a situation where I knew and liked and respected both candidates.”
During his campaign days, Clemons occasionally found that his supporters also had donated to his opponent. That kind of thing can be a little disconcerting for a candidate, he said.
“It can make you wonder about that dedication of a person, that person’s dedication to your candidacy,” Clemons said. “But if you understand their reasons for it, then it’s OK.”