David Jolly Cruises in Republican Primary to Take on Alex Sink

David Jolly won the Republican primary on Tuesday to face former state CFO Alex Sink in a special election in March for the congressional seat left open by the death of longtime U.S. Rep. Bill Young, R-Fla. Jolly, an attorney who worked as an aide to Young as a lobbyist, defeated retired Marines Gen. Mark Bircher and state Rep. Kathleen Peters, R-St. Petersburg, in the primary.

With more than 85 percent of precincts in, as well as early votes, Jolly had 44 percent followed by Peters with 31 percent and Bircher trailing with 24 percent. Voting proved light on Tuesday with the Pinellas County supervisor of elections office estimating only 5 percent of eligible voters hit the polls. But 21 percent cast ballots by mail and they went strongly for Jolly, allowing him to build a healthy margin of victory over his two primary rivals.