Republican David Jolly defeated Democrat Alex Sink on Tuesday in a Tampa-area House district where President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul got its first test ahead of November’s midterm elections and Democrats and Republicans spent millions of dollars auditioning campaign strategies for the rest of the year.
With almost 100 percent of the vote counted, Jolly had 48.5 percent of the vote to Sink’s 46.7 percent in the race to replace the late Republican Rep. Bill Young. Libertarian Lucas Overby had 4.8 percent.
Sink conceded shortly before 8 p.m.
The campaign inspired both parties to call in star advocates such as former President Bill Clinton and former vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan, in addition to blanketing the district with ads, calls and mailings. More than $11 million was spent on the race, according to the Sunlight Foundation, a nonprofit group that tracks government information.
Jolly’s election night headquarters erupted into loud cheers after he won.
As Jolly and Sink shook hands with voters around the district Tuesday, steady streams of people filed into retirement communities, churches and libraries to cast ballots.
The battle for Florida’s 13th District seat was a preview of the national fight this year over who controls Congress in the last two years of Obama’s final presidential term. The House is expected to remain under Republican control. But in the Senate, Republicans are hoping to leverage Obama’s unpopularity and his health care law’s wobbly start to gain the six seats required to control the 100-member chamber.
That made the race in Florida an expensive proving ground for both parties heading into November’s elections.
Jolly, a former Young aide backed by Republicans and outside groups, campaigned on repealing the health care law. The message was a rallying cry for Republican voters.
“No more big government. We’ve got to stop,” said Irene Wilcox, a 78-year-old retired waitress and Republican from Largo who voted for Jolly.
Others described Sink as a clone of Obama and House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi, a key argument of Jolly and national Republicans.
“As bad as Bush may have been, he was a saint compared to the guy we have in Washington,” said Rich Castellani, a retired treasury agent who supported Jolly.
Meanwhile, Sink, Florida’s former chief financial officer and the Democratic nominee for governor in 2010, painted Jolly as an extremist who wants to “take us back” to when people were denied coverage because of pre-existing conditions. She pledged to “to keep what’s right and fix what’s wrong” in the health care law.
That argument resonated with some voters.
“While I know it’s not perfect, it’s may be the beginning of where we can provide adequate health care to everyone, not just the wealthy,” said Frieda Widera, a 51-year-old Democrat from Largo who backed Sink.
In an attempt to deflect criticism over the law, Sink and Democrats painted Jolly as a Washington lobbyist who backed efforts to privatize Social Security and gut Medicare. The attack put Jolly on the defensive in recent weeks, and some voters cited concern about GOP cuts to programs for the elderly. More than one in four registered voters in the district is older than 65.
“The Republican Party thinks they are hurting President Obama,” said George Nassif, an 82-year-old Republican who voted for Sink. “They are not. They are hurting the people.”
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