GOP opponent set for Murphy

Former state Rep. Carl Domino won the Republican nomination, as expected, to take on Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-Fla.) this fall.

{mosads}The Associated Press called the race for Domino, long the front-runner in a six-person field, with 75 percent of precincts reporting, giving him 38 percent of the vote.

Murphy initially appeared to be one of Democrats’ most vulnerable incumbents; his district was one of nine won by Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney in 2012. But after winning his race by less than a percentage point in 2012, he’s strengthened his prospects this fall by carving out a centrist profile and proving to be a formidable fundraiser.

Murphy’s raised nearly $3.8 million this election cycle and won the notice of the Chamber of Commerce, which delivered him its “Spirit of Enterprise” award for supporting the group’s agenda more than 70 percent of the time in 2013. Those assets helped dissuade any top-tier contenders from taking him on.

Domino does have the potential to counter one of Murphy’s advantages with his own personal wealth, with a net worth of about $24 million, per his most recent personal financial disclosures. But he comes off of two consecutive GOP primary losses, and national Republicans have so far left him off their lists of top contenders and haven’t reserved any fall airtime for the race.