Congressional District 13 U.S. Representative David Jolly never intended to run for U.S. Senate two years after winning a special election victory to succeed the late C.W. Bill Young, his former mentor and boss.
Then two things happened: Presumed GOP Senate front-runner Jeff Atwater dropped out of the race, and the Florida Supreme Court ordered the several districts, including Jolly’s be redrawn. The upshot is the new district went from being a plus-2 GOP seat to a strongly Democratic-leaning one.
A recent poll, though, shows that the Pinellas County congressman leads the GOP field of Senate candidates. The race is just beginning, though, and anything can happen.
Jolly has shown he knows how to get national attention, despite his relative inexperience among U.S. House members. He recently filed his STOP Act that would ban federal officeholders from fundraising on the job. He’s picked up six co-sponsors, though it’s doubtful he’ll get it passed.
In terms of gaining media attention, though, it’s mission accomplished.
Jolly drops from fourth to fifth in this year’s survey.
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