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Tampa Bay Area Presidential Donors Lean Democratic

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By BILLY HOUSE, The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 6, 2008

WASHINGTON - Tampa Bay area campaign donors favored Barack Obama over Hillary Rodham Clinton last year, although together, the Democratic presidential hopefuls easily surpassed the combined dollar amounts raised by all of the remaining GOP candidates.

New campaign finance reports for the final quarter of 2007 also show Florida continued to be a top fundraising spigot for presidential contenders from either major party, although the Democratic candidates stopped actively campaigning in the state by September.

Yet, it still was a Democrat - New York Sen. Clinton - who led all candidates in money raised statewide in Florida for all of 2007, totaling more than $6.1 million.

Republican Rudy Giuliani raised the next highest amount, about $5 million for the year.

Despite that, the former New York City mayor dropped out of the presidential race the day after his disappointing third-place showing in Florida's GOP primary last week.

"I think this solidifies our reputation as being one of the highest (campaign) contributor states," Aubrey Jewett, a political science professor at the University of Central Florida in Orlando, said of the fundraising totals.

As for Giuliani, he added: "It is ironic that he showed the ability to come down and ask people for money. But when push came to shove, he just could not get their votes."

Clinton grabbed more votes than did Obama in Hillsborough, Pasco and Polk counties on her way to winning the Democratic half of Florida's Jan. 29 presidential primary, a contest Obama dismisses because no delegates were at stake and campaigning had been limited in Florida.

Those penalties resulted from the state moving its primary date in violation of national party rules.

Statewide, Clinton won the primary vote 50 percent to 33 percent.

But the race was much closer in Hillsborough County, where Clinton won 42,993 votes to Obama's 36,151 votes.

And when it came to fundraising in the area, Obama outperformed Clinton in both Hillsborough and Pasco counties during 2007.

Through all of 2007, the Illinois senator raised $315,551 in Hillsborough County, compared with $186,437 for Clinton; in Pasco, Obama raised $15,122 compared with $10,705 for Clinton, and in Polk, Clinton raised $30,895 compared with $7,961 for Obama.

Among Republican candidates still in the race on Super Tuesday, Arizona Sen. John McCain in 2007 raised $103,997 in Hillsborough County, compared with $98,314 for former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, $82,805 for former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and $62,149 for Texas Rep. Ron Paul.

In Pasco County, Romney raised $17,452 compared with $7,900 for Paul, $6,894 for McCain and $1,550 for Huckabee.

And in Polk County, Paul raised $9,071 compared with $7,779 for McCain, $4,545 for Romney and $3,380 for Huckabee.

Obama's strong fundraising locally mirrors the ability he exhibited nationwide to keep pace with, and in some areas surpass, Clinton's fundraising. She has reported raising $107 million nationwide, compared with Obama's $102 million.

Obama's finance chairman for Tampa Bay, Frank Sanchez, explained Clinton has had about a 16-year history with most of the state. That gave her an advantage in raising money, particularly in areas like Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties, he said.

By comparison, Obama had been to Florida "once or twice" before holding fundraisers, and "just doesn't have the same kind of history here," Sanchez said.

But Sanchez said the Tampa Bay area represented a potential opening for Obama because Clinton had not spent as much time in the region as she had in South Florida. That gave Obama a more-level playing field, he said. "We were able to attract a really diverse group of people," said Sanchez, about the area's Obama contributors. He said that included "some registered Republicans, independents, and a lot of Democrats who weren't traditionally part of the fundraising network here."

There were five Obama fundraisers in the area; four were attended by the senator and one by his wife, Michelle.

Sanchez said the Democrat candidates' decision not to campaign in the state starting in August "lost us a few contributors."

But he doesn't expect any resentment to last into November, when the presidential race will be decided more on issues. He said Obama will be back in the area in early March for another fundraiser. Statewide, Obama collected more than $3.5 million in 2007. But Clinton nearly doubled it with $6.1 million.

Trailing Giuliani's statewide total was Romney ($3.6 million), McCain ($2.2 million), Paul ($1 million) and Huckabee ($698,864.)

Reporter Billy House can be reached at (202) 662-7673 or bhouse@tampatrib .com

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