State Sen. Atwater has raised $2.2 million for $42,072 a year job

TALLAHASSEE - Despite Florida&#39;s sour economy, the man expected to be the state&#39;s next Senate president has raised an unprecedented $2.2 million for a two-year job that pays just $42,072 annually.

Republican Sen. Jeff Atwater of Palm Beach Gardens, whose campaign message is that he&#39;s an agent of change, also has received $230,000 from the Republican Party of Florida to pay campaign workers, polling and other expenses.

Atwater&#39;s fundraising success doesn&#39;t end there. A separate political committee he controls, called Preserve the American Dream, has raised $820,000 from real estate, gambling, medical and other major lobbying interests in Tallahassee. He can use the money to defray more expenses and help political allies win their races.

"We have the best Legislature money can buy," said Ben Wilcox of Common Cause Florida, which has tried without success to limit influence of money in the capital.

Observers could not recall a legislative candidate raising the amount Atwater has amassed in a state with a $500 limit on individual donations. A 50-year-old bank executive, he is seen as a likely future statewide candidate he toyed with a run for chief financial officer in 2006 but backed away.

"A lot of people from a lot of places in Florida recognize Jeff is going to be an important and decisive leader in the Senate," said Rick Wilson, an Atwater adviser.

By comparison, outgoing Senate President Ken Pruitt raised $646,000 for his 2006 re-election. His predecessor, Tom Lee of Brandon, created a political committee that by 2006 had $1.2 million, an amount that at that time was considered excessive.

Atwater, whose Democratic challenger, Linda Bird, has raised just $33,000, has spent nearly $900,000 from his primary campaign account. Whatever he does not spend can be donated to the Republican Party, to charity or returned to contributors on a pro-rated basis.

Atwater has raised $249,000 from doctors, $161,000 from lawyers, $114,000 from real estate interests and $80,000 from donors described by his campaign as consultants or government relations usually euphemisms for lobbyists.