The race to succeed the late C.W. "Bill" Young in Congress is starting to heat up.
Rep. Kathleen Peters, R-South Pasadena, jumped in the race on Monday, setting the stage for a Republican primary in the special election to take over CD 13, which is mostly centered in Pinellas County.
Peters officially announced her candidacy Tuesday morning. The former South Pasadena mayor will now face off in a primary against David Jolly, former general counsel and top aide to the late Young and Mark Bircher, a retired Marine.
Jolly currently works in Washington, D.C., as a lobbyist, thoughhe has lived in Indian Shores since 2006.
He was endorsed by Bill Youngs wife, Beverly, to succeed his former boss and has spent more than a week fundraising and building a list of supporters for his campaign. So far, Jolly has raised over $150,000.
On Monday, Jolly said he was happy Peters had entered the race, but ultimately believed the candidacy was his for the taking.
"I'm thrilled Kathleen is in," he told a reporter. "I think she'll be a great candidate. But I wouldn't be in this race if I didn't think I was the best qualified to win."
But both candidates have already received backlash from Democrats in Washington.
Pinellas voters had better buckle up as this competitive Republican primary means both David Jolly and Kathleen Peters will be sprinting to the right as fast they can, said Andy Stone, communications director for the House majority PAC. In fact, in this fierce GOP contest, Jolly and Peters will be cozying up to the same reckless wing of their party that shut down the government and was cheerleading a financial default something voters in the 13thDistrict wont forget come March.
Democrats have been backing former chief financial officer and gubernatorial candidate Alex Sink to take over the CD 13 seat, though former Young opponent Jessica Ehrlich made a brief run for the seat before dropping out.
Sinks clearly serious about the race -- she moved from Hillsborough to Pinellas just to qualify, and is widely favored in Pinellas County, where voters supported her in two statewide elections.
Sink has received endorsements from lots of Pinellas locals, including County Commissioner Janet Long and State Rep. Darryl Rouson, D-St. Petersburg.
On the national level, Sink has been given the thumbs up from EMILYs List, the Democratic women's group which previously promoted the candidacy of attorney Jessica Ehrlich.Democrats in the U.S. House leadership -- including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi -- and the Florida delegation are scheduled to host a fundraiser in Washington, D.C., for former CFO Sink on Dec. 4.
Young held the seat for over 40 years until his death in October. At the time of his death, he was the longest serving Republican member of Congress.
The special election primary will be held on Jan. 14 and the general election March 11.
Reach Tampa-based reporter Allison Nielsen atAllison@sunshinestatenews.comor follow her on Twitter at@AllisonNielsen.
