UPDATE: Republican David Jolly wins. Current results here.
BREAKING: Republican David Jolly wins Fla. congressional special election in test race over health care.
— The Associated Press (@AP) March 11, 2014
You can spin #fl13 all you want, but result will mean hundreds of millions in anti-Obamacare ads in every race from now through November
— Conn Carroll (@conncarroll) March 11, 2014
If you don’t think Ds have a problem when they get 46% in a 51% Obama seat, please whistle quietly. You’re disturbing the graveyard. #FL13
— daveweigel (@daveweigel) March 11, 2014
Chances are this statement from Dem Alex Sink didn’t help:
)
There’s a special U.S. House election underway today in Florida’s 13th congressional district. The winner will replace Republican Rep. C.W. Bill Young, who passed away last October. The race is between Democrat Alex Sink and Republican David Jolly. There’s also a Libertarian candidate, Lucas Overby, in the mix.
A quick intro from CNN:
From outward appearances Tuesday’s special election to fill a vacant congressional seat in Florida doesn’t seem to be that important. It’s just one of 435 seats in the U.S. House, and the winner will serve out a term that comes to a close at the end of the year. But the contest for Florida 13 has landed smack in the middle of the national political spotlight. It’s seen by some pundits as a bellwether for November’s midterm elections, and there’s been a massive infusion of outside ad money into the race to try to influence the outcome. A special election this far out from Election Day rarely gives us a preview of what will actually happen in November, but the party that does come out on top gets bragging rights until the next election.
For a bit of background reading on how some are viewing the race:
- Washington Post – Everything you need to know about today’s special election in Florida
- Roll Call – Florida Tossup Tests Patterns for Special Elections
- RealClearPolitics – What Should We Read Into FL-13? Maybe Nothing.
You can follow chatter about the race and results on Twitter below, and we’ll post results as they become available – polls close at 7pm. Tweets about “#FL13”
DONATE
Donations tax deductible
to the full extent allowed by law.
Comments
Isn’t Sink the Dem that said we need to pass immigration reform because if we don’t who will we get to clean our hotel rooms and do our landscaping?
yes
LOL – OK folks – I want you to know that embed with the ‘Sinking Statement’ was not in the post when I asked the question above. I do try to read the posts before I comment.
Wait, the NRCC actually was happy to see a candidate elected who is opposed to Obamacare. What happened to them…did they actually grow a brain?
This was a critically important district and a bellwether of 2014….until a Republican won. Now its marginal according to CNN
I thought it was interesting that the Libertarian candidate Lucas Overby had 4.8 percent of the vote. The lefty GOP Establishment had better be careful to avoid a Mitt Romney-style don’t-frighten-the-horses campaign that lets Democrats off the hook.
Jolly won because he hammered Sink with ObamaCare. But to effectively battle the Obama Democrats and their media sycophants that will not be enough, as the narrowness of this win shows. Republicans must make the case for freedom and against the modern-day welfare state. To do that, they will have to do something the lefty GOP Establishment hates to do: point out that the welfare state leaves people worse off than before, robs them of their freedom and dignity, and turns them into vassals of the State.
I don’t see it as that narrow considering that Sink had been the Democrat candidate for Governor in 2010 so she started the race with very high name recognition compared to Jolly. He wasn’t all that familiar to local voters as he had been on the late Congressman Young’s staff in Washington. Also, special elections tend to be dominated by older voters, particularly older women voters. I have found the being the only woman in the race can be worth as much as two to three percentage points because women of a particular age and outlook almost reflexively vote for the woman candidate. Add in that Jolly was divorced less than two months ago, which might give pause to some social conservatives, and I think he did exceptionally well.
Pubs in marginal districts must copy the Jolly formula and must take care — you can’t beat something with nothing. So you have to stand for something other than just repeal ObamaCare. That means hammering away on the economy, hammering away on personal freedom, hammering away on the right to own firearms, and fergawdsakes keeping your mouth shut when a
Democratic media representativereporter asks about contraception or abortion.You left out gay marriage and prayer in schools. A Republican candidate that opens their mouth about any one of these 4 supposed issues is dead.
Okay, so you don’t have to haul out all the pyrotechnics, but I think this rates a Roman Candle, Professor….
You watch. Liberals will be busy spinning the “it isn’t a referendum on Obamacare b/c Koch bros, Racism, War on Women, yada yada yada.”
Sink won the district with over 52% (the current precincts, district boundaries changed) in 2010 when she ran close statewide for Governor. She’s lost over 5% in a district that has been expected for at least a decade to flip whenever Young left his seat, that Obama won, with more money and name recognition.
The Democrats’ spin is the equivalent of praising the crisp lettuce on your crap sandwich.