Q: On March 12, the AJC reported that millions were spent during the Florida congressional race between David Jolly and Alex Sink. What was the breakout by candidate?
—Bob Sullivan, Canton
A: Jolly, a Republican, and Sink, a Democrat, combined to spend more than $12 million in the race to fill the U.S. House seat of C.W. Bill Young in Florida's 13th District. Young, the longest-serving Republican in Congress, died last October. Sink spent about $6.4 million and Jolly spent about $6.3 million, according to the Center for Public Integrity, a nonpartisan group that tracks money in politics. The Washington Post reported that Republican organizations contributed about $5 million to help Jolly and Democratic groups chipped in about $3.75 million to Sink's campaign. "Both Democrats and Republicans went all-in," Center for Public Integrity reporter Michael Beckel told PolitiFact. "Neither side can claim to have been outgunned." Jolly won with 48.5 percent of the votes to Sink's 46.6.
Q: Regarding the Georgia Tech student who died of burns he suffered from a Molotov cocktail: Couldn’t someone have thrown it through his window? Couldn’t this have been a hate crime?
—Nancy Stone, Roswell
A: Law enforcement authorities found a Molotov cocktail and several plastic bottles filled with gasoline and kerosene in Saamer Akhshabi's Midtown apartment after he was burned over 90 percent of his body in an explosion on Feb. 4. Akhshabi, a Georgia Tech graduate student from Iran, died from his injuries at Grady Memorial Hospital on March 6. Investigators have said that based on evidence at the scene, it was the student himself handling the explosive materials.
Andy Johnston wrote this column. Do you have a question about the news? We’ll try to get the answer. Call 404-222-2002 or email q&a@ajc.com (include name, phone and city).
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