Florida’s U.S. Senate race to replace outgoing Senator Marco Rubio (R) is finally heating up, and more political barbs continue to be lobbed between all of the candidates.
Rep. Ron DeSantis (R) who is running in the GOP senatorial primary against Todd Wilcox, Carlos Beruff, Lt. Governor Carlos Lopez-Cantera, and Rep. David Jolly, landed a body blow to Jolly, referring to him as a Democrat and not a Republican.Here is what DeSantis’ press release read about this past Monday’s debate between Democratic senatorial candidate, Rep. Alan Grayson, and Rep. David Jolly:
“In advance of tonight’s Democratic party debate between Congressman Alan Grayson (D-FL) and Congressman David Jolly (R-FL), Ron DeSantis for Florida pointed out that viewers of the debate shouldn’t expect to see very much policy difference between the two candidates, given their records.”
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Big ouch!
Why did DeSantis refer to Jolly as Democrat and not a Republican?
In the same press release, DeSantis listed six instances where Jolly acted not-so-Republican :-Jolly and Grayson both have an “F” rating from Citizens Against Government Waste (Citizens Against Government Waste Scorecard)
-Jolly and Grayson both opposed repealing the Death Tax (The Hill, 4/16/15)
-Jolly and Grayson both opposed preventing the IRS from hiring new employees until they certify that no IRS employee has a serious delinquent tax debt (Jolly was the only Republican in all of Congress to vote this way) (Roll Call Vote #160, 2016)
-Jolly and Grayson both opposed creating a committee to investigate the illicit trafficking of baby parts (again, Jolly was the only Republican in all of Congress to vote this way) (Tampa Bay Times, 10/7/15)
-Jolly and Grayson both supported allowing American taxpayers to be audited by IRS agents who are tax delinquents without any consequence for the IRS (Jolly was one of only three Republican in all of Congress to vote this way) (Roll Call Vote #157, 2015)-Jolly and Grayson both opposed a resolution disapproving of the coercive DC abortion mandate. (Roll Call Vote #194, 2015)
And then there is this little dig by DeSantis’ Campaign Manager Brad Herold.
“Don’t expect to see fireworks at tonights Democratic Senate debate between Alan Grayson and David Jolly – there’s not much the two disagree on…David Jolly repeatedly finds himself voting with Grayson on spending, religious freedom, and protecting IRS bureaucrats, so it’s no wonder he’s chosen to put himself before the Democrat party’s voters as their potential nominee for Senate.”
As DeSantis’ campaign begins to unfold, Herold seems to be rolling up his sleeves, and has really tightened his trademark bowtie.
**Update: Team Jolly has fired back at DeSantis:“Poor Ron trying to distract from his “60 Minutes” cameo the other night. The whole world got an up-close look at what matters most to Ron. Hint, it’s not fixing Washington.” -Max Goodman, campaign manager