Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Politics

One's a rep. The other's just visiting

As the Sarasota recount rolls on, both hopefuls are prepping in D.C. But only one gets to stay.

By Anita Kumar
Published November 15, 2006

	The freshman class of the 110th Congress gathered on the steps of the U.S. Capitol Tuesday to pose for a class photo.
[Getty Images]

WASHINGTON - At 7:30 Tuesday morning, the freshman class of the 110th Congress gathered in business suits on the steps of the U.S. Capitol to pose for a class photo.

In the lower right is Vern Buchanan, representing the Sarasota area. In the top left, on a soaring marble balcony, is a beaming Christine Jennings, also representing the Sarasota area.

A week after the election, Buchanan and Jennings are still fighting over which one of them gets to represent the 13th Congressional District in the U.S. House. After the initial counting, Buchanan led Jennings by 377 votes, a margin so slim it triggered an automatic recount.

Jennings says she is so convinced she will ultimately prevail that she flew to Washington on Sunday night to join the weeklong freshman orientation that was intended for 54 members-elect, but is temporarily training 55.

In a seminar titled "Introduction to Procedures and Protocols of the House Chamber" on Monday, Jennings sat in the second row and Buchanan close behind her in the third. In the seminar on ethics, and the one on what to do in a terrorist attack, and the one on how to vote, there they were in the same seats.

They have moved in almost lockstep from event to event this week - chatting in the hallway of the Cannon office building where most of the events have been held, making small talk when they found themselves alone in the same elevator.

"Everyone is asking about it," Jennings said. "It feels a little awkward for us and for everyone because there are two people here. ... It's unusual circumstances."

Unusual, but not unprecedented.

In 2002, Colorado Republican Bob Beauprez and his Democratic opponent Mike Feeley both attended orientation amid disputes over a 386-vote margin of victory. Beauprez's lead never eroded and Feeley ultimately went home.

Buchanan, 55, and Jennings, 60, have been friends for a dozen years since Jennings, a banker, first stopped to welcome Buchanan, a car dealer, to Sarasota. Jennings became Buchanan's banker and the two have served on boards together, including their current positions on the board of the Ringling Museum.

But the race to replace Katherine Harris was a tough affair, marked by bruising campaign ads. The victory hasn't been tidy either.

For a reason no one has yet explained, touch screen voting machines in Sarasota County recorded that 18,382 people, or 13 percent of all voters, did not vote for either candidate - a rate much higher than in other counties in the district.

The first of two recounts ended late Tuesday with few changes in the vote tally. Sarasota Elections Supervisor Kathy Dent said the recount proved the touch screen machines performed flawlessly while the few small mistakes in the count were attributed to the machines that scan absentee ballots and to poll worker error.

The recount gave Buchanan one additional vote and shaved one off Jennings' total, but there was no change in the official count. The error was attributed to problems with optical scan ballots. A second manual recount begins Thursday in Sarasota.

A state audit has been put on hold for at least 48 hours, after a circuit judge in Sarasota ruled Tuesday that lawyers from both campaigns, the Sarasota supervisor of elections and the Florida Secretary of State's Office must try to reach an agreement on independent testing of the voting machines.

The judge gave all four groups until Thursday to try to reach a consensus on who should audit the machines, and how.

Jennings and Buchanan are letting their lawyers in Florida handle the recount, fight in court, give updates to the media.

Meanwhile in Washington, Jennings and Buchanan are vying - politely - for the right to vote for the new House leaders. And later this week, offices will be assigned. Neither is sure how they'll handle that one.

Buchanan said seeing each other at orientation has been a "little awkward," but he understands why she would come to what will be the only opportunity to learn the basics before the new Congress takes over in January. He likened her to an alternate juror.

"We won - not by a bunch - but we won," Buchanan said.

Jennings, for the most part, is being treated like every other freshman though Buchanan's campaign is quick to call him "Congressman-elect" and point out that he is listed in the congressional face book.

And while the entire class - Republicans and Democrats alike - went to a cocktail reception at the White House on Monday night with President and Mrs. Bush, Jennings was not invited.

Buchanan spent part of the day Tuesday interviewing chiefs of staff and looking at townhomes to buy with his wife, Sandy. But Jennings cautions against making too many plans.

"There is no winner here," she said.

Yet.

Times staff writer Tamara Lush and researcher Angie Drobnic Holan contributed to this report, which used information from the Associated Press.

[Last modified November 15, 2006, 01:53:12]