Former Democratic U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler contributed $2,000 during the fourth quarter of 2011 to the congressional campaign of Patrick Murphy, one of two Dems running for the Palm Beach-Broward seat of U.S. Rep. Allen West, R-Plantation.

Murphy raised more than $300,000 in the quarter, his campaign said, bringing his fundraising total to $1.4 million. Former Democratic governor candidate Bill McBride and former Wilton Mayors Mayor Jim Stork also contributed to Murphy. Stork ran for the congressional seat in 2004 but cut his campaign short for health reasons.

Republican-turned-independent former Gov. Charlie Crist gave $1,000 to Murphy’s campaign last spring. Murphy consultant Eric Johnson was a strategist for both Wexler and Crist.

Former West Palm Beach Mayor Lois Frankel is also running as a Democrat for West’s seat and raised more than $1.1 million through Sept. 30.

Fourth-quarter campaign reports are due Jan. 31 for federal candidates.

Murphy and Frankel are among the top Democratic fundraisers in the U.S., but they are no financial match for West, who through Sept. 30 had raised more than $4.1 million and had $1.8 million in cash on hand.

As Palm Beach County’s Democratic Party considers a measure to protect incumbents from “unnecessary” primary challenges, it’s worth noting that some of the biggest local Democratic names of the last two decades were once outsiders who challenged incumbents in Democratic primaries.

Former U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler first gained office by ousting Democratic incumbent Don Childers in a 1990 state Senate primary. Former U.S. Rep. Ron Klein‘s electoral debut was unseating Steve Press in a 1992 Democratic state House primary. County Commissioner Burt Aaronson won his seat by toppling Carole Phillips in a 1992 Democratic primary.

After giving up her state House seat in 1992 to pursue a failed congressional bid, Lois Frankel made a comeback in 1994 by challenging the one-term incumbent who had replaced her, former Frankel aide Mimi McAndrews, and defeating her in a memorably bitter Democratic primary.

Facing state House term limits in 2000, Addie Greene set her sights on the county commission and pushed aside veteran incumbent Maude Ford Lee in a Democratic primary.

State Rep. Irving Slosberg first gained office in 2000 by beating incumbent Curt Levine in a Democratic state House primary.

Tax Collector Anne Gannon made a failed try to defeat incumbent Suzanne Jacobs in a 1994 Democratic state House primary. Before winning his seat in 2010, state Rep. Steve Perman tried and failed to oust Richard Machek in a 2006 Democratic state House primary.

Elections Supervisor Susan Bucher won her nonpartisan office in 2008 by defeating incumbent and fellow Democrat Arthur Anderson.

Federal candidates filed reports Monday showing their campaign bank account balances as of Dec. 31.

After raising and spending more than $6.5 million on his 2010 race to unseat Democrat Ron Klein, new U.S. Rep. Allen West, R-Plantation, begins the 2012 cycle with only $52,459 in cash on hand. Should Klein attempt a comeback, he’ll begin with a mere $41,390 in the bank.

After a fairly easy glide to reelection in 2010, U.S. Rep. Tom Rooney, R-Tequesta, begins the 2012 cycle as the Palm Beach County delegation’s money leader with $432,474 in cash on hand.

U.S. Rep. Ted Deutch, D-Boca Raton, reported $128,766 in cash on hand.

U.S. Rep. Alcee Hastings, D-Miramar, reported $161,204 in cash on hand.

Former Republican U.S. Rep. Mark Foley still has more than $1.2 million in his campaign account. And former Democratic U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler’s campaign still has $320,673.

A Democratic Senate nominee touting endorsements from Democratic state legislators during a general election campaign suggests something unusual is going on in Florida’s Senate race.

Fighting independent candidate Charlie Crist for Democratic votes and bracing for former Democratic U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler’s rumored endorsement of Crist, Democrat Kendrick Meek announced today that three more Democratic state House members are backing him, including Rep. Mark Pafford, D-West Palm Beach.

Says Pafford, who represents many former Wexler condo constituents: “Kendrick Meek’s career has always been defined by his commitment to the people of Florida. Like me, he has stood in opposition to big oil and offshore oil drilling to protect Florida’s coastlines. Kendrick also understands the importance of protecting another natural resource: our children. As a father I am grateful that Kendrick fought to restrict class sizes so that our children can excel. I am honored to give Kendrick my support and will continue to fight with him for Florida.”

Read the whole Meek campaign release after the jump…

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COCONUT CREEK — Republican-turned-independent Gov. and U.S. Senate candidate Charlie Crist courted Democratic voters this morning — but wouldn’t say whether he’d align with Democrats or the GOP if he’s elected in November.

“I’m not answering that question, because I’ve said that I will caucus with the people of Florida,” Crist told reporters after speaking to a crowd of about 500 at the heavily Democratic Wynmoor retirement community.

Crist was introduced by Democratic state Rep. Ari Porth, who has endorsed him. Democratic state Sen. Jeremy Ring and Republican Broward County Sheriff Al Lamberti were also on hand, but said they have not made endorsements.

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Charlie Crist’s hiring of the SKD Knickerbocker media firm is another sign the Republican-turned-indie guv is making a serious play for Democratic votes in his U.S. Senate bid.

Crist has already signed “fire-breathing liberal” Democrat Robert Wexler’s former political consultant, Eric Johnson, to help him in Dem-heavy South Florida.

SKD Knickerbocker’s partners include Anita Dunn, a senior adviser to Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign, and its website boasts that it has “helped countless Democratic candidates and campaigns navigate tough races and win.”

Its client roster includes Obama, Democratic Sens. Sherrod Brown and Jay Rockefeller, Orlando-area Democratic U.S. Rep. Suzanne Kosmas and the para-Democratic Service Employees International Union.

The firm has also handled big-time indie campaigns for Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Former Democratic U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler, who was candidate Barack Obama’s envoy to South Florida Jewish voters in 2008, is being “courted” to be President Obama’s ambassador to Israel, unnamed “Washington Middle East hands” tell Politico.com.

Wexler left his Palm Beach-Broward congressional seat in January to head the nonprofit S. Daniel Abraham Center for Middle East Peace.

On a purely political note, a Wexler ambassadorship would presumably end chatter about Wexler endorsing his pal Charlie Crist‘s Senate bid and steering Democratic votes to the indie candidate.

Eric Johnson, longtime political adviser and chief of staff to former Democratic U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler, says he’ got Wexler’s “blessing” before taking a job last week as a consultant to Republican-turned-independent Gov. Charlie Crist’s Senate campaign.

Wexler, now heading a Middle East think tank, has stayed out of the Senate race.

Read about it in this week’s Politics column.

Remember when Republican Gov. Charlie Crist basked in south-county Democratic love for championing Democratic U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler’s call for paper ballots to replace electronic voting?

Some key Palm Beach County Democrats say Crist’s new independent bid for U.S. Senate could peel away Democratic votes from Dem frontrunner Kendrick Meek in the fall.

And the Democrat-oriented Public Policy Polling firm speculates that Crist, despite his Republican history, could take more votes from Meek than he does from presumptive Republican Senate nominee Marco Rubio.

“There are going to be a lot of races this year where a Republican leaning third party candidate would do Democrats a lot of good. The Florida Senate race is not going to be one of them. If Charlie Crist’s independent run has any impact on Kendrick Meek’s chances of winning it’s likely to be negative,” says a PPP blog post.

Democrat Ted Deutch, who is to be sworn into Congress today by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, says his home and family will remain in West Boca while he’s representing District 19 in Washington.

Former U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler’s decision to move his wife and kids to Maryland and to declare Florida residency at his in-laws’ house in West Delray caused a flap in 2008 — although Wexler still cruised to reelection that year with 66.2 percent.

With all 93 precincts reporting in Broward County, which makes up about 30 percent of congressional District 19, Democrat Ted Deutch got 53.8 percent to 42.8 percent for Republican Ed Lynch and 3.4 percent for no-party candidate Jim McCormick.

About one-third of Palm Beach County precincts have reported and Deutch has about 65 percent of the vote there.

The Associated Press has declared Deutch the winner and Deutch just gave a victory speech to hundreds of cheering supporters in Boca Raton.

Ted Deutch got 69.5 percent of the early vote in Palm Beach County to 29.6 percent for Republican Ed Lynch in the special election to replace Robert Wexler.

Absentee and precinct numbers for Palm Beach County haven’t been posted. Palm Beach County is about 70 percent of congressional District 19.

Combined with partial results from Broward County, Deutch has about 63 percent of the vote to 35 percent for Lynch and the remainder for no-party candidate Jim McCormick.

Results are starting to trickle in, so keep visiting the PostOnPolitics blog and PalmBeachPost.com

Early and absentee ballots from Broward County show Democrat Ted Deutch with 56.2 percent of the vote and Republican Ed Lynch with 40.3 percent in the special congressional election to replace Robert Wexler. No-party candidate Jim McCormick has 3.

Precinct results are not yet in from Broward County, which makes up about 30 percent of congressional District 19.

No results have been posted yet from Palm Beach County.

Voters in congressional District 19 today will choose a replacement for U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler, the Democrat who stepped down in January to head a Middle East think tank.

Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

The district has more than twice as many Democrats as Republicans and voted 65 percent for Barack Obama in 2008. That makes Ted Deutch, a state Senator from Boca Raton, the heavy favorite. But Republican Ed Lynch hopes to ride voter dislike for the new Democratic health care law to an upset victory. And independent candidate Jim McCormick hopes enough voters are fed up with two-party politics to propel him into office.

The winner serves the last 8-1/2 months of Wexler’s term and will be up for reelection to a full two-year term in the fall.

For a recent summary of where the candidates stand on key issues, click here.

Republican Ed Lynch aired an ad ripping Obamacare over the final weekend before Tuesday’s special congressional election to replace Robert Wexler. Democrat Ted Deutch did his best impression of legendary Chess session man Lafayette Leake as he joined the band Riptide at Delray Affair on Saturday night and supplied keyboard accompaniment to a cover of Bo Diddley’s Before You Accuse Me.

The Palm Beach County Human Rights Council, which advocates for gay rights and against discrimination based on “gender identity and gender expression,” told thousands of its members today that Tuesday’s special congressional election is for Democrats only.

The group sent out a blast e-mail endorsing Democrat Ted Deutch. The e-mail says “only registered Democrats may participate” in the special congressional election to replace Robert Wexler.

“That was a typo. We’re going to correct that,” said the group’s president, Rand Hoch.

Hoch said the Democrats-only language was left over from an endorsement e-mail the group sent out before the special Feb. 2 Democratic primary. Hoch said a corrected version of the e-mail will go out Monday and Tuesday.

The e-mail says it was paid for and approved by Deutch’s campaign. Hoch said after Deutch won the endorsement, his campaign paid the cost — which Hoch estimated at less than $100 — to send the mass e-mail.

Republican congressional hopeful Ed Lynch is facing a foreclosure lawsuit but says he’s attempting to work out a loan modification to stay in his house.

Lynch, who’s running in Tuesday’s special election to replace Robert Wexler, has missed mortgage payments since last June and owes $647,974 in principal, interest and other advances, according to a suit filed March 30.

“We’re just like anyone else. We’re not on a pedestal. We’re not holier-than-thou. We’re not different from anybody else except that we trusted the federal government,” said Lynch, who says his contracting business is owed at least $2.8 million for work on a veterans hospital in Miami.

“Money gets tight when our biggest customer doesn’t pay us,” Lynch said.

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Early and absentee voting statistics show there’s more interest in next Tuesday’s special congressional election to replace Robert Wexler than there was for the special Feb. 2 primaries in Palm Beach-Broward congressional District 19.

Monday’s opening of early voting drew 1,192 voters in Palm Beach County — a 136 percent increase over the first day of early voting before the Feb. 2 special primaries, when 504 people voted. A total of 2,825 people ended up casting early primary ballots in Palm Beach County between Jan. 25 and Jan. 31.

Broward County had 305 early voters Monday, compared to 650 early voters for the entire seven-day period before the primaries.

With a week to go, both counties have already received more absentee ballots than they did for the primaries.

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Democratic state Senate hopeful Peter Burkert says he’s merely offering some legitimate, issue-based criticisms of his primary rival, state Rep. Kevin Rader, D-Delray Beach.

But after Burkert rapped Rader for an insurance vote and for failing so far to fulfill his promise of Acreage tax relief legislation, Rader’s campaign accused Burkert of “desperate…vicious and misleading” attacks. And some of Rader’s big-name backers — former U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler, Palm Beach County Commissioner Burt Aaronson and state Rep. Mark Pafford, D-West Palm Beach — accused Burkert of endangering the party’s chances of hanging onto the seat now held by Sen. Dave Aronberg, D-Greenacres.

Read about it in this week’s Politics column.

Remember Republican congressional hopeful Ed Lynch’s claim on Fox Business Network last week that he had seen a surge in contributions immediately after the House passed the health care bill?

“We’ve got probably a thousand percent increase since the bill was passed on Sunday (March 21) and then we’ve got about another thousand percent increase when it was finally signed into law (March 23). So it’s been going pretty well…It’s just a national movement that’s gone on,” said Lynch, who’s running in next week’s special election to replace Robert Wexler.

New Federal Election Commission reports, however, tell a less dramatic story….

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