Corcoran committee, campaign top $200k

BY THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA

A political committee led by House Appropriations Chairman Richard Corcoran raised $182,000 in January, while the Land O' Lakes Republican also collected $20,500 for his campaign account, according to newly filed finance reports. Corcoran is one of the state's most-powerful lawmakers and is slated to become House speaker after the November elections. The political committee, known as "Florida Roundtable," had about $635,000 in cash on hand as of the end of January. Among its contributions in January was $25,000 from Florida East Coast Railway LLC, the report shows. Corcoran is seeking re-election this fall in Pasco County's House District 37. His campaign account had about $146,000 in available cash as of Jan. 31. State political candidates and committees face a Wednesday night deadline for filing updated finance reports.