Alex Sink will not challenge David Jolly for congressional seat in November

[Tony_FLADEM]

Democrat Alex Sink has decided not to run for Congress again this year, meaning there will not be a rematch of the nationally watched and extraordinarily costly campaign that Sink lost in Pinellas County a little over a month ago by less than 2 percentage points.

Sink told the Tampa Bay Times on Tuesday that this is not the first time she has had to weigh numerous factors in deciding whether to run for office, and this time she has made a "very personal" decision against it.

"I was certainly all in for the special election and at this point in time I just made the decision that I did not want to run again."

Republican David Jolly defeated Sink in the March 11 special election that was held following the October death of longtime Republican U.S. Rep. C.W. Bill Young.

Jolly released a statement after learning of Sink's decision: "I have great respect for Alex. I'm sure it was a difficult decision and I wish her the very best. I look forward to continuing my work in Congress on behalf our Pinellas community."

Now comes the regularly scheduled election, with primaries in August and a general election in November. Earlier this week, the Rev. Manuel Sykes of St. Petersburg, a Democrat, said he was considering running for the seat. Candidates must file by May 2 to appear on the ballot.

Sink said Democratic officials showed her an analysis of election trends and "the numbers actually looked better than I anticipated."

She said 50,000 more people may vote in the fall, and "there will be many more independents and they will probably be a little younger."

Those are some of the reasons she said she believes a Democratic candidate can win in the fall, even though she is the candidate who likely would have commanded the biggest name recognition and Jolly will have an incumbent advantage.

http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/national/sink-will-not-run-for-congress-against-jolly-in-fall/2175148

[FBaggins]

1. Probably for the best

Very mature of her to be able to set personal goals aside and focus on the good of the party.

[tarheelsunc]

5. Not sure it's really going to be good for the party or not.

This tea partier Jolly has the advantage if her incumbency and Sink's probably got more name recognition than anyone who will end up running for this seat. Sink pretty much admitted she would have a solid shot of winning based on comparing the turnout demographics of the special election against what would be expected of the midterm. Maybe someone else can pull it off, but I believe it's going to be much harder for a new face against an incumbent in a midterm than it was for the well-established Sink to run against a generic tea partier in a special election.

[liskddksil]

2. She blew 2 winnable races.

Jessica Ehlrich would have been a way better candidate in the special, but she got pushed aside by the DCCC.

[blkmusclmachine]

3. And "Third Way" STILL sucks.

[WillyT]

4. + 1,000,000,000... What You Said !!! - K & R !!!