Don't compare David Jolly to the rest of the congressmen in Washington, but especially don't compare him to the man who wants to get there in the worst way, Charlie Crist.
The way Jolly sees it, he and his congressional opponent in the CD 13 race -- a Republican-turned-Independent-turned-Democrat -- are made from entirely different cloth.
“Charlie’s been on every side of every issue,” Jolly says. “Think about it.”
In an interview with Sunshine State News Friday, the incumbent United States congressman said his positions are steadfast, rooted in conservative principles with a deep understanding of legislation and how to make things happen that didn't come from years of campaigning, but from a direct involvement in the political process while working for the late Bill Young for 20 years.
“On the technical side, I understand legislating in Congress in a way very few people do [because] I was in a professional staff role of actually doing the technical side of legislating,” he said. “That's where I'm able to excel and get things done.”
Crist, on the other hand, has held a variety of offices in Florida politics, but it hasn't done much to help his understanding of political issues, the Pinellas County congressman claims.
To recap, instead of running for re-election in 2010, Gov. Crist ran for U.S. senator. And when he saw the writing on the wall, that he couldn't win the GOP primary against Marco Rubio, he ran under a partyless banner, lost in November, joined the Democratic Party to run for governor again in 2014, and lost that race, too.
The flip-flopping has only dug the former Florida governor into a deeper hole, casting doubt on his integrity and honesty.
“How do you run a race where Republicans hate you and Democrats don't trust you?” Jolly asked. “People who were close with him aren't with him anymore. He's burned a lot of bridges over the years.”
Trust, says the freshman congressman, is where the two embark on totally different paths.
Crist waited until after redistricting to declare, when he felt confident the Democratic majority in the new district would give him the edge. Crist's critics have called that commitment to winning, not commitment to serving in the United States Congress. To Jolly, Crist’s latest congressional ambition is more about adding another decorative trophy to his political mantelpiece rather than a true desire to serve the people.
“Charlie is running on a platform where during his 18 years in office, he had an opportunity to advance [policies] and he never did,” he told SSN. “Our understanding of the policies ... when we get down to it, he's about an inch deep on most policies.”
CD13, Jolly says, is just a safe, cushy Democratic seat (which favors that party by 11 points) to keep Crist’s toes dipped into politics and to keep his name in lights as he ages into frailty.
"I would love to grow old in this district (as a member of Congress),” Crist told the Tampa Bay Times earlier this week. “It is something I would enjoy."
Jolly doesn't have as much experience in a House seat as a lot of his colleagues on the Hill, but the 43-year-old wears his political "newbie" status like a badge of honor.
In fact, it's the premise on which Jolly says he based his entire 2014 election campaign: replacing the most senior member of Congress, the late Bill Young, with the most junior member of Congress, which ended up being Jolly.
“Some bring political history with them, but I don't know that it actually allows them to do the job,” he said.
Things haven't necessarily changed in how Jolly operates, but he says he's done a lot since taking office two years ago.
He doesn't shy away from tough topics. A more moderate Republican, Jolly takes more daring positions than some long-time GOP politicians. He acknowledges climate change, supports marriage equality and has even taken on some of GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump’s policies.
His maverick side hasn't always hit party leadership's sweet spot. The Stop Act, a bill Jolly introduced in February, would ban all federal-elected officials from directly soliciting donations, a process Jolly says significantly cuts into politicians’ schedules, engulfing them in the quest to fundraise and leaving them short of time to work on Capitol Hill. National party leaders didn't like it, to put it mildly. And they especially didn't like his refusal to spend more than four hours a day dialing for dollars.
So, the National Republican Congressional Committee didn't embrace Jolly when he jumped back in to reclaim his House seat, and Jolly says he hasn't spoken with anyone at the NRCCC. The wounds remain open.
But the abandonment doesn't faze him. Instead, he revels in the freedom it's given him.
“The cool thing is, if I lose an election because I'm unwilling to commit to 30 hours a week raising money and instead I spend those 30 hours doing my job, I can look back and know that every day I was on the job, I did the right thing,” he said.
Democrats haven't wasted time funneling money into the CD13 race, and team Jolly says it's because they're afraid.
“They've spent $2.5 million in airtime” on Charlie Crist's behalf, said campaign manager Max Goodman. “They must be pretty worried for a reason.”
The Democrats aren't the only ones noticing Jolly could score a knockout against Crist this November. Roll Call recently moved CD13 out of the “safe” zone for Democrats, instead saying the new district is “Democrat favored.”
Jolly’s closing principles on the race are simple: Pinellas, he says, wants something different. The people want someone who's real.
“It's a changing of the guard,” he explained. The people of Pinellas also want someone who will give their all for their district.
Jolly promised he would do that.
“Every day, morning to night, [I’m going to be] working as hard as I can,” he said.
