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Alex Sink won’t run again for Florida U.S. House seat
Sink’s decision to bow out of the 13th District race leaves Democrats scrambling for a last-minute candidate
♦By Rich Shumate, Chickenfriedpolitics.com editor
ST. PETERSBURG, Florida (CFP) — Less than three weeks before Florida’s filing deadline, Democrat Alex Sink has announced that she won’t seek a rematch with Republican U.S. Rep. David Jolly in the state’s 13th U.S. House District, leaving her party scrambling to find a new candidate.
Alex Sink
Jolly narrowly defeated Sink in a March special election for the St. Petersburg-based seat, despite an all-out effort on her behalf by national Democratic officials.
“After reflection with my family, I have made a personal decision not to run,” Sink said in a statement. “I remain totally convinced that a Democrat can and will win this congressional seat in the fall, and I look forward to helping the Democratic nominee.”
Although Republicans hold an edge in party registration in the 13th District, it is one of just three GOP-held congressional districts in the South that President Barack Obama carried in 2012, making it a top Democratic target. The seat became vacant when Republican U.S. Rep. C.W. “Bill” Young, who held it for more than 42 years, died last October.
U.S. Rep. David Jolly
Jolly, 41, a former Washington lobbyist and Young aide, is seeking a full term in November. The filing deadline for Democrats who want to run against Jolly is May 2.
Sink, 65, Florida’s former chief financial officer, was the Democratic nominee for governor in 2010, narrowly losing to Gov. Rick Scott. Although she didn’t live in the district, she was recruited to run by national party officials. Once she got into the race, other Democrats in Pinellas County stepped aside.
Outside Democratic and Republican groups poured more than $9 million into the special election, which was seen as a bellweather of their political prospects heading into November’s mid-term election.
The main fault line in the campaign was Obamacare, which Sink embraced and Jolly opposed.
Pressure builds on U.S. Rep. Vance McAllister to resign
Governor Bobby Jindal and Louisiana’s GOP chairman call on McAllister to leave Congress after being caught on tape kissing a staffer
♦By Rich Shumate, Chickenfriedpolitics.com editor
MONROE, Louisiana (CFP) — Two top leaders in U.S. Rep. Vance McAllister’s own Republican Party are calling for him resign over a video showing showing the married father of five kissing a female staffer outside of his congressional office in Monroe.
U.S. Rep. Vance McAllister
Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal and Roger Villere, chairman of the Louisiana Republican Party, both say McAllister should step aside.
“Congressman McAllister’s behavior is an embarrassment,” Jindal said in a statement. “He says he wants privacy to work on his issues with his family. The best way to get privacy and work on putting his family back together is to resign from Congress.”
Villere was even more scathing, saying McAllister’s “extreme hypocrisy is an example of why ordinary people are fed up with politics.”
“A breach of trust of this magnitude can only be rectified by an immediate resignation. He has embarrassed our party, our state and the institution of Congress,” Villere said.
The video was first published by The Ouachita Citizen, a newspaper in West Monroe, which said it had obtained it from an anonymous source. The video came from a surveillance camera in the building housing McAllister’s district office.
After the newspaper posted the video, McAllister issued a public apology.
“There’s no doubt I’ve fallen short,” McAllister said. “I’m asking for forgiveness from God, my wife, my kids, my staff and my constituents.”
“I promise to do everything I can to earn back the trust of everyone I’ve disappointed,” he added, asking that his children be given privacy “as we get through this.”
In a subsequent interview with the Monroe News-Star, McAllister said he had no plans to resign and would seek re-election this fall.
The newspaper identified the female in the video as Melissa Peacock, a scheduler on McAllister’s district staff. Her husband, Heath Peacock, a campaign contributor and former co-worker of the congressman, told CNN that he is “devastated” by the video and plans to divorce his wife.
“I feel like I’m going to wake up here in a minute, and this is all going to be a bad nightmare,” Peacock said.
It is unknown who leaked the video. McAllister considered but eventually dropped the idea of requesting an FBI investigation into who provided the video to the newspaper.
McAllister, 40, a businessman from Swartz, was a political unknown when he elected to represent Louisiana’s 5th District in a special election in November, during which he portrayed himself as a Christian family man.
Watch the video:
Alabama U.S. House candidate takes aim at Obamacare — literally
GOP hopeful Will Brooke posts a video in which he shoots guns at a copy of the Obamacare bill
♦By Rich Shumate, Chickenfriedpolitics.com editor
BIRMINGHAM, Alabama (CFP) — Taking literal aim at Obamacare, Will Brooke, a Republican candidate for Alabama’s 6th District U.S. House seat, has posted a video in which he shoots at a copy of the 2,000-page bill.
The video, posted on YouTube, is entitled “Let’s Do Some Damage.” With bluegrass music playing in the background, Brooke drives his pickup truck out into the country. puts a copy of the bill in a wooden frame and then shoots at it with handgun, a rifle and, finally, an automatic weapon.
U.S. House candidate Will Brooke
“We’re down here to have a little fun today and to talk about two serious subjects — the Second Amendment and see how much damage we can do to this copy of Obamacare,” Brooke says.
Not satisfied with the damage he is able to inflict on the bill, Brooke finally feeds it into a wood chipper.
Brooke is head of a Birmingham-based venture capital firm and served as chairman of the Business Council of Alabama. He is making his first run for political office
The 6th District takes in most of suburban Birmingham, along with a four rural counties to the South. It is one of most heavily Republican districts in the country, giving Mitt Romney 74 percent of the vote in 2012.
Brook is one of six Republicans running for the seat, which opened up after U.S. Rep. Spencer Bachus announced his retirement last year.
The other Republicans in the race are State Senator Scott Beason, State Rep. Paul DeMarco,Chad Mathis, Gary Palmer, Rob Shattuck and Tom Vigneulle.
Here is the video Brooke posted on YouTube:
Edwin Edwards running for U.S. House seat in Louisiana
The former governor, who served eight years in prison for corruption, is attempting a comeback at age 86
♦By Rich Shumate, Chickenfriedpolitics.com
BATON ROUGE, Louisiana (CFP) — Edwin Edwards, the colorful and controversial former Louisiana governor, will attempt a political comeback by seeking the state’s 6th District U.S. House seat.
Edwards, 86, a Democrat who served eight years in federal prison on corruption charges, announced his run March 17 during an appearance at the Baton Rouge Press Club.
House hopeful Edwin Edwards
“I’m positive I can run, and I’m confident I can win,” said Edwards, who was accompanied by his wife, Trina — 51 years his junior — and their 1-year-old son.
Edwards said he did not think his run would be an embarrassment to Louisiana.
“It might be something the state should be proud of because forgiveness, understanding and second chances are important in life and in politics,” he said.
Edwards is seeking the House seat being vacated by U.S. Rep. Bill Cassidy, who is challenging Democratic U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu. The district takes in parts of nine parishes in and around Baton Rouge.
Edwards told reporters that he had considered challenging Landrieu before deciding on the House race. As a convicted felon, Louisiana law bars him for running for a statewide office.
The district is heavily Republican, giving Mitt Romney 67 percent of the vote in 2012. However, with 10 Republicans in the race, Edwards has a good shot at making it through the state’s jungle primary, where candidates from all parties run in the same race and the two top vote getters advance to a runoff.
Edwards served a record four terms as Louisiana’s governor between 1972 and 1996. In 1991, after being acquitted of federal corruption charges, he won a runoff against white supremacist David Duke. During that campaign, a popular bumper sticker urged Louisianians to “Vote For the Crook. It’s Important.”
In 2001, Edwards was convicted on 17 counts of bribery, extortion, fraud and racketeering stemming from his last term as governor. Among the charges was that he took $400,000 from former San Francisco 49ers owner Eddie DeBartolo for help him secure a casino license.
Sentenced to 10 years in prison, Edwards was released in 2011 after serving eight years. Less than a month later, he married Trina Edwards, who had been a prison pen pal. The couple starred in a reality television show, The Governor’s Wife, which aired on the A&E cable network in 2013.
David Jolly keeps Florida U.S. House seat in GOP hands
Jolly, a Washington lobbyist and former House aide, defeats Democrat Alex Sink in 13th District special election
♦By Rich Shumate, Chickenfriedpoiltics.com editor
ST. PETERSBURG, Florida (CFP) — Republican David Jolly has won a special election for Florida’s vacant 13th U.S. House District, narrowly beating Democrat Alex Sink and dashing Democratic hopes of taking away what had been seen as a vulnerable GOP seat.
U.S. Rep-elect David Jolly
Jolly won 48.5 percent in the March 11 race, compared to 46.6 percent for Sink, a margin of less than 3,500 votes. Libertarian Lucas Overby carried 4.8 percent.
National Democratic officials had pulled out all the stops for Sink, including visits by Vice President Joe Biden and Bill Clinton. The main fault line in the campaign was Obamacare, which Sink embraced and Jolly opposed.
Jolly, 41, is a Washington lobbyist and former aide to the late U.S. Rep. C.W. “Bill” Young, who held the St. Petersburg-based seat for more than 42 years before his death in October.
Sink, 65, is the state’s former chief financial officer. She was the Democratic nominee for governor in 2010, narrowly losing to Gov. Rick Scott.
Democratic nominee Alex Sink
Sink does not live in the district. But after she was recruited to run by national party officials, other Democrats in Pinellas County stepped aside.
Outside Democratic and Republican groups had poured more than $9 million into the race, which was seen as a bellweather of their political prospects heading into November’s mid-term election.
While Republicans hold a lead in party registration in the 13th District, President Barack Obama narrowly carried it in both 2008 and 2012. The district is one of only three Republican-held seats in the South that went for Obama in 2012.
Jolly will have to defend the seat in November, and he told Fox News that he expects Democrats to come at him just as hard.
“This will be just as close of a race,” he said.
In her concession speech, Sink did not say if she plans to seek the seat again in November.
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