GOP Senate candidate George LeMieux (left) (Pic by Aviation Structural Mechanic 3rd Class Nicole Bieneman, via Wikimedia Commons)
GOP Senate candidate George LeMieux will raise money at the Sarasota home of Jesse Biter on Wednesday. Biter, a well-connected Florida businessman, recently served as the Florida chairman of the Rick Santorum presidential campaign, and has has also worked on campaigns for Mike Huckabee; Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Sarasota; and Gov. Rick Scott.
According to his Twitter account, Biter hosted Buchanan, Marco Rubio and Rudy Giuliani at his home in October 2010.
Biter is a business partner of Buchanan’s son, Matt Buchanan. Last year, the two launched a business called Dealers United, telling the Gulf Coast Business Review that they planned to spend at least $1 million in startup costs on the business.
Buchanan is currently the subject of several ongoing investigations into contributions made to his 2006 and 2008 congressional campaigns. According to a former business partner, Buchanan pressured employees of a car dealership he co-owned to donate to his campaigns, and then later reimbursed them with dealership funds. That partner, Sam Kazran, filed suit against Buchanan on Friday, alleging that Buchanan abused the offices of the court to silence Kazran “regarding numerous election laws which were knowingly violated by Buchanan during his run for public office.”
The suggested minimum contribution for the LeMieux event is $250. The maximum allowable contribution is $5,000 per person, per FEC rules.
