The Southerland & Graham Race

Alex Leary reports that the Florida 2nd congressional race between Gwen Graham (D) (daughter of Bob Graham) and Republican incumbent Steve Southerland is going to be competitive financially.

Rep. Steve Southerland, R-Panama City, raised $461,000 in the second quarter, an official tells the Buzz, his best quarter ever.

But Democrat Gwen Graham came out strong, too, pulling in $375,000 in her first quarter since becoming a candidate for the 2nd Congressional district.

Graham's campaign said she has about $300,000 cash on hand. Southerland's numbers were not yet available.

Southerland is getting well-deserved grief for his amendment to the farm bill. Southerland's amendment would require food stamp recipients would be required to work. The amendment and the farm bill had no funding to help people on the SNAP program find jobs. The true goal of the amendment was to deny poor people food. The amendment was cruel and Democrats voting against the farm bill. House Speaker John Boehner couldn't even deliver his own caucus because the farm bill wasn't draconian enough. Southerland is definitely vulnerable. However, Gwen Graham is going to have to campaign on more than "Congress is a dysfunctional mess."