Investigation

Following the money trail of Congressional candidates

Fox 4 investigates campaign finances

CREATED Jul. 27, 2012 - UPDATED: Jul. 27, 2012

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  • Have you ever wondered where political candidates get their money? Tonight, a Fox 4 investigation follows the money trail, looking into the campaign finances of our Congressional candidates. Four in your Corner investigator Mike Mason has been diggin Video by fox4now.com

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LEE COUNTY, Fla. - Have you ever wondered where political candidates get their money? Tonight, a Fox 4 investigation follows the money trail, looking into the campaign finances of our Congressional candidates. Four in your Corner investigator Mike Mason has been digging through documents.

We found the candidates who raised the most money are being backed by people who work in industries that have a vested interest in the outcome of this election. There are seven Congressional candidates running for office in District 19. There are six republicans and one democrat.

The deadline to file their latest campaign finance reports was June 30th, there are four financial front runners: Paige Kreegel, Trey Radel, Gary Aubuchon and Chauncey Goss have all raised around $400 thousand dollars. We followed the money trail of the top four candidates, pouring through hundreds of pages of financial reports to find out who's donating to their campaigns.

Paige Kreegel has raised the most money. He's being backed by Florida Citrus, which donated a thousand dollars to his campaign and the National Air Transportation Association donated $1500. Kreegel's a doctor and received $5,000 dollars from NEMPAC, a political organization that lobbies for the medical industry. But most of Kreegel's money came from individual doctors. 69 doctors donated to his campaign this past quarter.

Trey Radel is backed by the National Funeral Director's Association, receiving $2,000 from them. UPS donated $5,000. He also got help from top execs at US Sugar. The Vice President and Senior VP donating a total of $5,000.

Chauncey Goss received donations from 10 employees of the Chilton Investment Company in Connecticut. In fact, dozens of his donors live out of state, most are in New York.

Gary Aubuchon: "I'm proud the industry that I've been a part of for the last 20 years has risen to support my candidacy for Congress"

Gary Aubuchon getting most of his support from within his own industry. He's a home builder and real estate broker. We found at least 24 of his donors work as developers, or in construction or engineering. And he cemented a relationship with Cemex, which donated $3500. But Aubuchon doesn't want voters to make judgments about his ties to developers.

Gary Aubuchon: "I have a record in the Florida House of also having a balance between development and a sustainable environment."

Many campaign donors didn't indicate where they worked or what they did so it's difficult to know exactly where every dollar is coming from. We should also mention that Fox 4 anchor Amy Wegmann is married to candidate Trey Radel. The primary election will be held on August 14th.