Vern Buchanan
Republican
· FL-16 · 119th Congress
House Committee on Ways and Means · Joint Committee on Taxation
Influence Score
80.2
Highly exposed
↑ +8.4
vs 118th (71.5)
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This score measures financial influence across twelve categories. Each bar shows how this member compares to all others in Congress. Longer bars mean more exposure.
Score breakdown — twelve categories
Contributionsmoney from PACs (political action committees) and individual donors
10.6
/ 12
Outside spendingmoney spent by groups to help elect them
0.8
/ 6
Spent to help elect them
$110,521
Outside groups that spent to help elect this member — this drives the outside-spending bar above
Spent to defeat this member
$8
Outside groups that spent to defeat this member (not counted in this score)
Lobbyinghow hard lobbyists push the committees this member sits on
9.6
/ 10
Vote alignmenthow often they vote the way their donors want
4.1
/ 12
Contribution timingmoney arriving near key votes
4.6
/ 6
Stock tradesbuying stocks in industries they regulate
0.0
/ 1
Dark moneyfunding from groups that hide their donors
< 0.1
/ 2
Outbound money distributionmoney this member sends out to the party and to colleagues
11.3
/ 16
Cluster network breadthhow many coordinated funding networks back this member
7.6
/ 10
Committee jurisdiction powerthe legislative reach of the committees this member sits on
7.3
/ 10
Foreign interestforeign-interest money — Israel-policy PACs and FARA-registered institutional lobbying allocated by committee jurisdiction
6.9
/ 12
Israel-policy PACs behind this score
AMERICAN ISRAEL PUBLIC AFFAIRS COMMITTEE POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE
$10,528 direct
REPUBLICAN JEWISH COALITION POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE (RJC-PAC)
$38 direct
FARA institutional lobbying
This member’s committees are targeted by $65.02M in lobbying from FARA-registered firms representing South Korea, Japan, Saudi Arabia. This exposure is weighted at 0.2% of face value in the score — $130K.
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Score across four congresses
Score and tier for each Congress. Members are ranked against others in the same Congress, so tiers are comparable across rows. Raw scores reflect different data availability per Congress.
| Congress | Score | Tier |
|---|---|---|
| 116th · 2019-2021 | 37.3 | Least exposed |
| 117th · 2021-2023 | 64.0 | Moderately exposed |
| 118th · 2023-2025 | 71.5 | Highly exposed |
| 119th · 2025-2027 | 79.9 | Highly exposed |
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Biggest funding source
The single network behind the most money and influence
Total money from this network
$117,000
Number of funding networks contributing
1
— ◊ —
Where most of the money comes from
What share of their combined contributions and outside spending comes from a single network. Party committees are excluded.
Share from this one network
1.4%
Amount from this network
$58,500
Total from all networks
$4,113,489
Networks contributing
583
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Who funds Buchanan
Every funding network we can measure, ranked by influence
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Does the money match their power?
Whether their money comes from the industries their committees actually oversee
Money from industries they regulate
97.5%
Extra weight when money matches their committees
2.00×
Share of outside spending tied to their policy areas
100.0%
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Money timed to key votes
Donations arriving near key votes in the policy areas this member regulates
Times money arrived near a vote
6
Money that arrived near votes
$25K
Distinct donors
8
Distinct employers
4
Share of their total fundraising
3.79%
Biggest clusters of timed money
FINANCIAL INSURANCE MANAGEMENT
$7K
STEPHENS
$7K
BLACKSTONE
$3K
BLACKSTONE
$3K
INVESTMENT SEMINARS
$3K
BLACKSTONE
$2K
ATLAS INSURANCE AGENCY
$250
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Top Donors
Biggest sources of contributions, grouped by employer, this cycle
HONEYWELL INTERNATIONAL
$6.69M
FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION
$6.43M
HONEYWELL INTERNATIONAL
$5.67M
BOEING
$4.39M
HONEYWELL INTERNATIONAL
$3.79M
BOEING
$3.65M
NORTHROP GRUMMAN
$3.47M
LOCKHEED MARTIN
$3.35M
LOCKHEED MARTIN
$3.13M
EY
$3.01M
COMCAST CC OF WILLOW GROVE
$2.63M
THE ELEVANCE HEALTH COMPANIES
$2.53M
GENERAL MOTORS
$2.24M
UNITED HEALTHCARE SERVICES
$2.16M
RAYTHEON TECHNOLOGIES
$2.06M
BOEING
$2.05M
HARRIS
$2.04M
GLOBAL WEALTH MANAGEMENT
$2.02M
UNITED HEALTHCARE SERVICES
$1.93M
NEW YORK LIFE INSURANCE
$1.91M
Where the outside money comes from
How much of the outside spending for and against Vern Buchanan comes from groups that disclose their donors versus groups that hide them
Total outside spending received
$111K
Disclosed outside spending
$77K
Dark-money outside spending
$33K
Share that is dark money
30.12%
Dark money tied to their policy areas
$0
Groups hiding their donors
2
By funding network
CHANGE NOW
$811K
HOUSE MAJORITY PAC NETWORK
$176K
AMERICAN HOSPITAL ASSOCIATION PAC
$77K
HUMANE SOCIETY LEGISLATIVE FUND
$37K
SPECIAL OPERATIONS FOR AMERICA
$36K
REINVESTING IN AMERICA 2020
$14K
GIFFORDS PAC
$12K
FLORIDIANS FOR A FAIR SHAKE A PROJECT OF SIXTEEN THIRTY FUND
$8K
MAD DOG PAC
$5K
NATIONAL RIGHT TO LIFE VICTORY FUND
$4K
TEA PARTY PATRIOTS CITIZENS FUND
$2K
EVERYTOWN FOR GUN SAFETY VICTORY FUND (EVERYTOWN VICTORY FUND)
$861
DEMOCRACY PAC
$751
ENVIRONMENT AMERICA ACTION FUND
$336
LCV VICTORY FUND
$19
Groups that hide their donors
1 smaller group under $500
$8
Likely donors behind the dark money supporting this member
Inferred
Donors who fund the disclosed PACs in the same network as the hidden groups above. "Coverage" is how many of that network's disclosed groups a donor funds — the more they fund, the more likely they also back the hidden group.
NEVADANS FOR STEVEN HORSFORD
$80K
TITUS FOR CONGRESS
$80K
SUSIE LEE FOR CONGRESS
$79K
GEORGE SOROS
$525.74M
SMP
$81.00M
BLACKPAC
$47.25M
AB PAC
$25.50M
HMP
$15.00M
HOUSE MAJORITY PAC
$15.00M
CARE IN ACTION PAC
$6.60M
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Pro-Israel network donors
This counts contributions to this member from individuals whose FEC filings also show contributions to one of the 16 pro-Israel political action committees tracked by the Index. It is a measure of donor overlap — not a claim about why any individual gave, and not part of the influence score.
71 individuals who also gave to pro-Israel PACs contributed $515K to Vern Buchanan across 99 contributions.
Total from shared contributors
$515K
Shared contributors
71
Contributions
99
By cycle
| Cycle | Shared donors | Gifts | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 67 | 84 | $443K |
| 2024 | 11 | 14 | $22K |
| 2026 | 1 | 1 | $50K |
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Revolving Door
4 former staff members
who worked for Vern Buchanan or the committees they serve are now registered lobbyists.
| Lobbyist | Former position | Firm | Clients | Filings | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| STEPHEN VOLJAVEC | Legislative Director, Rep. Vern Buchanan; Legislative Assistant, Senator Marsha … | CROSSROADS STRATEGIES, LLC | 69 | 69 | 2025–2025 |
| KATHRYN WISE | Leg. Dir, Rep. Vern Buchanan (2014-2015); Leg. Dir, Rep.Mike Fitzpatrick (2013-2… | INVARIANT LLC | 1 | 1 | 2023–2024 |
| DON GREEN | Senior Policy Advisor/Legislative Director/Subcommittee Staff Director for Rep. … | ANIMAL WELLNESS ACTION | 1 | 8 | 2024–2025 |
| THOMAS TATUM | Dep Director of Communications, Office of the Majority Whip (Scalise); Director … | CORNERSTONE GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS, INC. | 1 | 1 | 2025–2025 |
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Vern Buchanan's file shows clear influence markers across multiple categories for the top funding network, placing them in the upper range of this Congress. The pattern runs above what coincidence would produce, and the methodology page documents what each category requires.
Data: FEC (Federal Election Commission) filings · 118th–119th Congress · lobbying disclosures · VoteView recorded votes
All findings derived programmatically from public records · No prior knowledge required
All findings derived programmatically from public records · No prior knowledge required