Spencer Fordin
Former U.S. Rep. David Jolly may have some bigger moves in his future.
Jolly, the U.S. Rep. for Florida’s 13th Congressional District from 2014 to 2017, indicated on Twitter Sunday morning that he’s considering a run for Florida Governor or the U.S. Senate in 2022.
A tweet from TV personality Lea Black kicked off the idea. Black, a member of the cast of The Real Housewives of Miami, tweeted that she thought Jolly should run for Governor.
And Jolly, about five hours later, replied to her tweet.
“Thank you Lea. Very kind,” he tweeted at 7:05 a.m. “Haven’t ruled it out, but strongly considering the U.S. Senate seat in ’22. Will consider whether either is the right decision and decide about this time next year. For now, I’m loving the time at home with our little one! Many thanks.”
Republican U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio will be on the ballot in 2022.
Jolly, a former Republican, switched to be an Independent in 2018, and he indicated elsewhere on Twitter Sunday that he is not likely to return to his old party.
He replied to a comment critical of the GOP by saying, “Fully agree. Not going back.”
Jolly was defeated by Rep. Charlie Crist in the 2016 election. He tweeted Sunday morning that one of the biggest obstacles to mounting a campaign for higher office would be financing it.
“Honestly, the role of money – big money – may be the single greatest discouragement to running,” he tweeted at 7:58 a.m. “It’s just an awful indictment of today’s politics. Encouraging side is seeing recent success of small dollar campaigns. That’s the way to go.”
Jolly served a little over a term in Congress before he was defeated by Crist. In 2018, he ruled out running to retake CD 13 as the seat had shifted to be more favorable to Democrats.
After leaving office, the former congressman became a staple on cable news networks for his unabashed criticism of President Donald Trump. Shortly before the 2018 elections, Jolly announced he had left the Republican party and registered as a no-party affiliation voter. Jolly said he and his wife, Laura Jolly, were motivated to leave the party to set an example for their daughter.
“It’s also just a personal rejection of partisanship. It’s a very comfortable place for us to be,” Jolly said at the time.
Update — Jolly responded via Twitter to the intense speculation his possible candidacy received over the weekend:
Lot of unexpected news today at the Jolly house. We’ll make decisions in due course. But for those who asked, I’ll clarify one decision with certainty. I left the GOP and am not returning. I will not be on the ’22 ballot as a Republican.
Thank you friends for your encouragement.
— David Jolly (@DavidJollyFL) July 27, 2020
2 comments
Sonja Fitch
July 26, 2020 at 3:40 pm
So glad you made the decisions to get as far away from the goptrump cult as quick as you did!
DisplacedCTYankee
July 27, 2020 at 10:02 am
Note to Jolly: People who run as “Independents” nearly always lose. Those who win invariably caucus with Democrats. So, run as a Democrat.
How can “partisanship” be bad when Republicans and Democrats are so very different in their outlooks? Get a spine, Jolly, or keep your cable news gigs.
I’ve cast off the last of my former friends who proudly proclaimed through the decades that they were registered as “independents.” Turned out they almost surely voted for Republicans but were afraid to admit it.
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