Christine Jennings

Christine Jennings
Born	(1945-11-26) November 26, 1945
Occupation(s)	Banker, entrepreneur, politician
Known for	Chairperson for the Sarasota County Democratic Party; 2006 Democratic candidate for Florida's 13th congressional district

Christine Jennings (born November 26, 1945) is a Florida-based banker, entrepreneur, and Democratic politician. She held the position of chairperson for the Sarasota County Democratic Party.

In the 2006 election cycle, Jennings was the Democratic candidate for Florida's 13th congressional district, a seat left open when incumbent Katherine Harris pursued a Senate bid.

During that election, a total of 237,861 ballots were cast; however, 18,382 electronic ballots in Sarasota County did not register a vote for the congressional contest. Jennings finished behind Republican Vern Buchanan by a margin of 373 votes. Among the counted Sarasota County ballots, Jennings secured 52.8%. Had the uncounted votes reflected this proportion, she would have won by approximately 600 votes rather than losing by 368. An audit revealed no faults in the voting machines; the issue was likely due to voter confusion linked to the ballot’s design. Some voters noticed their missed votes during review, while others did not. No conclusive reason has been identified for these unrecorded votes.

Originally a Republican who did not complete college, Jennings began her career as a bank teller at age 17. In 1992, she established Sarasota Bank, which was later purchased by Colonial Bank in 2003 for $40.5 million.

Jennings rose through the ranks to become president, chief executive officer, chairman of the board at Sarasota Bank, and served as a director. Additionally, she was president of the Sarasota Downtown Association and led the Sarasota Film Festival.

2004

In the 2004 Democratic primary, Jennings was defeated by Jan Schneider, receiving 38% of the vote compared to Schneider’s 47% in a four-way contest. This occurred despite Jennings outspending Schneider nearly fourfold. Supporters attributed her loss to a late campaign launch and emphasized that Jennings’s business credentials could appeal across party lines and enhance fundraising efforts.

2006

Jennings secured 61.8% of the vote in the Democratic primary held on September 5, 2006, significantly out-raising Schneider financially. CQPolitics.com observed that although Schneider attracted more liberal voters, many Democratic leaders viewed Jennings’s business experience as an advantage for the general election.

Pre-election polls indicated that Jennings led Buchanan by margins ranging from 2% to 12%. In November’s general election, she competed against Republican Vern Buchanan, who had won a competitive primary with 32.3% of the vote and had amassed over three times Jennings’s campaign funds—including nearly $6 million of his own money. The Sarasota Herald-Tribune endorsed Jennings.

After all votes were tallied, Buchanan narrowly led by fewer than 400 votes. Sarasota County reported almost 18,000 undervotes in this race, sparking demands for a new election—a rare occurrence in Florida and without precedent at the federal level.

In March 2007, Electronic Systems & Software Inc. (ES&S), which manufactured the voting machines used in Florida’s 13th district, disclosed slow response times during testing procedures. Following this revelation, Representative Juanita Millender-McDonald established a House Administration Committee task force to conduct an investigation.

On February 25, 2008, the committee rejected Jennings’s contestation of the results and confirmed Buchanan’s victory after a Government Accountability Office examination found no evidence of machine malfunction. The full House ratified this decision through HR 989. Subsequently, Jennings withdrew her challenge to concentrate on a potential rematch against Buchanan in 2008.

2008

Jennings declared her intention to run once more for the 13th District seat in 2008, earning backing from Emily's List on September 6, 2007. However, she was defeated by the sitting representative Vern Buchanan, obtaining only 37% of the votes cast.

Payroll tax controversy

In August 2007, amid disputes over the 2006 Congressional election outcomes, Democratic primary contender Jan Schneider filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission accusing Jennings of neglecting to file and remit payroll taxes withheld from her campaign employees during the 2006 race. The Jennings campaign initially acknowledged a payroll tax deficit of $23,835 attributed to a clerical mistake, which was quickly rectified. Subsequently, the campaign adjusted this figure to nearly $38,000, while records from the IRS and the campaign indicated that $70,126 had been reimbursed since July 2006. This issue arose after Jennings criticized Buchanan for withholding his personal tax returns, with Schneider labeling her actions as "shameful hypocrisy."

See also

• United States House of Representatives elections in Florida, 2008
• Florida's 13th congressional district

External links

• Christine Jennings for U.S. Congress official campaign website
• Campaign contributions at OpenSecrets.org