In Broward, Allen West -- a black Republican and retired army lieutenant colonel -- raised more than $1.4 million between April 1 and June 30, nearly triple the haul of about $510,000 by the incumbent, Democratic Rep. Ron Klein.
In his second quest to unseat Klein, who represents a swing district in Broward and Palm Beach counties, West beat his own fundraising record this quarter: Last quarter he raised $840,000. West has now raised about $3.5 million while Klein has raised about $2.4 million.
But thanks to leftover money from a previous election cycle, Klein is ahead in cash on hand with $2.9 million to West's war chest of almost $2.2 million.
Klein benefited from a wave of anger at President George W. Bush and the war when he ousted longtime Republican Rep. Clay Shaw in 2006. Klein easily beat West two years later, but this time West has attracted national media attention and more money as he has tapped into the anger of the Tea Party and voters' frustration with the economy.
Both West and Klein are expected to easily win their primaries Aug. 24 and then face off in November.
Pollster Jim Kane says the race is still Klein's to lose since he is the incumbent -- but that it won't be easy for him to win.
``Allen West is really, really coming on very strong, and he has the solid backing of the Republican rank and file and the Tea Party people,'' Kane said. ``That's the danger point for Klein.''
Money is expected to keep pouring into the race between now and when the next finance reports are due Aug. 12 -- after absentee ballots hit the mail and early voting begins Aug. 9.
In Miami-Dade, Haitian-American Rudolph ``Rudy'' Moise continues to bring in more money than established Democrats trying to replace Rep. Kendrick Meek, who is running for the U.S. Senate.
But the race attracting most campaign dollars in Miami-Dade is the contest to replace Republican Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart for a district that spans west to Collier County.
Leading Democrat Joe Garcia, who came close to unseating Diaz-Balart in 2008, pulled in about $728,000 this quarter -- outraising the Republican front-runner, David Rivera, who raked in about $518,000, though Rivera still holds a total fundraising lead.
According to an analysis by The Washington Post, that makes Garcia one of the top-raising candidates in the country this quarter.
``The overwhelming amount of support for Joe Garcia's campaign shows why this is one of our top pick-up opportunities,'' said Shripal Shah, a Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spokesman.
But Rivera, the Miami-Dade GOP chairman and state House budget chief, has a larger campaign chest overall, including more cash on hand: more than $1.1 million, compared to Garcia's approximately $623,000.
None of the other primary candidates in that race -- Republicans Marili Cancio and Paul Crespo and Democrat Luis Meurice -- have come close to Rivera's and Garcia's fundraising. Two other candidates, from the Tea Party and Florida Whig party, will face the primary winners in the general election.
The dollars have been slower to flow into the coffers of the 10 candidates vying to replace Meek in a district that includes some of the poorest areas of Miami-Dade County.
Leading the fundraising pack among the nine Democrats is Moise, a physician and amateur actor who raised about $138,000, loaned $800,000 to himself and ended the quarter with about $909,000 on hand. In total, Moise has put more than $1 million of his own money into the campaign.
The money could put Moise -- who released a TV ad this week -- in a position to play spoiler in the primary to candidates with more name recognition, like Miami Gardens Mayor Shirley Gibson or state Sen. Frederica Wilson.
Wilson brought in about $16,000 and had approximately $78,00 cash on hand. Gibson raised close to $27,000, spent more than $111,000 and had just $4,264 left in the bank -- but her campaign said it isn't worried.
``We spent our money where we thought we should, which is in a grassroots campaign,'' Gibson campaign manager Mark Goodrich said. ``Wenever planned to do television.''
In total, the primary field features four current or former state lawmakers, three municipal officials and a well-known Haitian-American activist.
With the Democratic Party spending money to hold on to Meek's seat, the primary winner will likely win the general election, though he or she will still have to face Roderick Vereen, an attorney who originally opened his campaign account as a Democrat but is now running without party affiliation.
Several other South Florida incumbents have opponents, but with little money or party support, the challengers aren't expected to pose much of a threat.
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