SARASOTA — Flush with cash and buoyed by a big re-election victory last fall, U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan seemed a prime Republican contender for U.S. senator or Florida governor. But on May 12, the millionaire Sarasota car dealer announced he would forgo a run for statewide office in favor of seeking a third House term.

"Representing Florida's 13th District in the U.S. House is an honor and a privilege," Buchanan said. "I look forward to the opportunity to continue serving the people.''

What Buchanan didn't say: Just three days earlier he had been in Orlando, giving a deposition in a lawsuit that accuses him of breaking his promise to reward a former employee who saved a real estate deal involving Buchanan's Sarasota Ford. It was a deal in which Buchanan and his company "made out like bandits,'' the seller says. (story here)

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