He may be out of public office, but Ron Klein is not getting a break from fundraising.
Klein, a Democrat who joined Holland & Knight as a partner after being ousted from his congressional seat by Republican Allen West, has become one of President Obama's top bundlers, raising between $200,000 and $500,000.
He has also raised a total of $25,000 for U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla.; U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio; U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla.; U.S. Rep. Ed Perlmutter, D-Colorado; and U.S. Rep. Bruce Braley, D-Iowa.
"I thought I was done with fundraising, but that's not the case," Klein said with a laugh. "I'm enjoying it. We had an event for Vice President (Joe) Biden and a couple other events."
Klein, who splits his time between H&K's Fort Lauderdale and Washington offices, also is calling on his foreign affairs experience gleaned as a member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs and the subcommittee on the Middle East and Asia. He recently traveled to Tel Aviv as part of a six-lawyer contingent from Holland & Knight looking to reactivate its dormant Israeli office. The group crammed 61 meetings into a 10-day trip, meeting with a variety of science, health care and university executives.
"They asked me to rebuild that office," Klein said. "It's personally interesting to me. We will be going back and forth for a while."
Holland & Knight currently has international offices in China, Mexico and Abu Dhabi.
Klein also recently picked up a new client, Spirit Airlines, the international and domestic discount carrier based in Miramar. He said he is not a lobbyist for the airline but represents them as a lawyer — an important distinction because Obama vowed he would not accept campaign contributions from lobbyists.
When asked whether he plans another run for political office, Klein was noncommittal.
"I've been in public office for 18 years and enjoyed the privilege of doing so but I'm enjoying the work I'm doing now," he said.
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