Buchanan doled out $11,000 from his leadership PAC to three Republicans — fellow Floridians Kat Cammack and Neal Dunn, as well as Jason Smith — as of June 30, according to Federal Election Commission records. He’d raised almost $1.2 million through his campaign committee, with about $500,000 in cash on hand, through Sept. 30.
Smith had sent $45,000 from his leadership PAC to the National Republican Congressional Committee, the House GOP campaign arm, as of Oct. 31. He handed out roughly $200,000 from his campaign committee to fellow Republicans’ campaigns through Sept. 30, and raised nearly $340,000 with almost $1.1 million in the bank.
The top categories for Buchanan’s donors this cycle include retirees, health care professionals, real estate, insurance and hospitals or nursing homes, according to the Center for Responsible Politics. His biggest contributors have ties to Florida, including a southwest Florida cancer treatment provider; NextEra Energy, which owns a Florida utility and nuclear power plants in the state; and grocery chain Publix Super Markets.
Smith’s top donors this cycle have been lobbying firms, insurers, agriculture, crop producers and processors, and health professionals, according to the center. Trade groups for beef producers, real estate companies, rural electricity co-ops and independent home care providers are among his contributors, along with a South Dakota-based biofuel company, Poet LLC.
Lauren Clason and Ellyn Ferguson contributed to this report.
