Despite signing a pledge to put Pinellas over politics, former state CFO Alex Sink continues to rely on super-PACs and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), as she aims to win a special congressional election.
On Tuesday, the DCCC launched anew commercialattacking Jollys record as a lobbyist.David Jollys proud to be a lobbyist, the narrator of the ad says. Is Jolly proud of lobbying for special interests that received over $3 million in taxpayer-funded earmarks? Or the firm lobbying for hundreds of millions for a dictator in Pakistan?
The ad will be running through the weekend, as the DCCC drops $200,000 on it.
In the meantime, Sink is also getting the support of other outside groups. Emilys List is blasting mailings hitting Jolly andreports emergedTuesday that House Majority PAC, a Democratic super-PAC, is planning to spend around $650,000 on ads in February. Allison Tant, chairwoman of the Florida Democratic Party, also sent out a fundraising email on Sinks behalf Tuesday.
Republicans pushed back with Katie Prill, a spokeswoman for the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), pointing to the pledge Sink signed last week and insisted the Democrat is not living up to it.
Alex Sink is willing to say and do anything in order to distract voters from learning about her support of Obamacare, which is already hurting Pinellas families and seniors, Prill said. If Sink really wants to put Pinellas over politics, then its time for her to stop hiding behind Nancy Pelosis Democrat super-PACs and own up to her support of this devastating health care law.
Jolly himself insisted Sink would be relying on outside groups as the race continues. Pointing to a new poll from Jim McLaughlin, Jolly insisted his lead would force Sink to go on the attack. The internal poll from the well-regarded pollster shows Jolly leading with 43 percent followed by Sink with 38 percent and Overby with 4 percent. The poll of 400 likely voters was taken from Jan. 16-19 and had a margin of error of +/- 4.9 percent. A poll from St. Pete Polls unveiled last week had Jolly ahead 47 percent with Sink at 43 percent.
In a memo attached to the poll, McLaughlin offered this: "The fundamentals in this survey favor a Jolly win, leaving the Democrats with one option: trying to buy this race with big money from Washington and outside groups. The Jolly campaign can expect an onslaught of negative attacks from the Sink campaign and her liberal, Democrat special-interest allies. With the necessary resources, considering David Jollys lead, he should be in good shape for the special election."
Besides claiming the momentum is on our side," Jolly agreed with McLaughlin.
This means that the Washington establishment behind Alex Sink is going to continue to commit millions upon millions of dollars to try to distort my record of service to Pinellas and take away our momentum, Jolly wrote. The Democrats know that Hillsborough County resident Alex Sinks stance on Obamacare is bad for Pinellas and they know this is a real problem for her in CD 13.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com.
