Cash Dries Up in Key Races for Dems

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A painting of Bill Young, whose congressional career may have pre-dated the invention of still photography

On paper, the congressional district of Rep. Bill Young of St. Petersburg would seem to be one of the best chances for the Democratic Party to pick up a seat. Although Young has kept that district Republican for almost 30 years, it went for Obama last November, and at 78 years old, Young ain't young enough to be a force on the fundraising trail. He raised only $1,355 in the year's first three months and just $49,000 in the past three months, figures that make him a marked man according to this article in The Hill.

But the same article notes that Charlie Justice has also been an anemic fundraiser, posting $86,000 in contributions. Factor in the hundreds of thousands Young has in the bank and the septuagenarian's sitting pretty, relatively speaking. That is, provided Young's constituents don't hold him accountable for going to bat for an allegedly corrupt defense contractor in his district whose offices were raided last week.

In the coastal Broward and Palm Beach Florida Senate district formerly ruled by Jeff Atwater, two candidates have been running up huge campaign funds -- and neither of them are Democrat. Rather, Ellyn Bogdanoff and Nick Loeb are dueling it out in what looks like a nasty primary matchup. The tortoise in the race is Kelly Skidmore, the lone Democrat who's declared.

Maybe the Democrats are turning all their financial guns on the governor's mansion, where Alex Sink is sporting a fat campaign purse.