Rep. David Jolly (R) is running for the U.S. Senate in Florida and is out pushing his The Stop Act legislation that would prevent members of Congress from “dialing for dollars” while serving in public office, calling the practice “shameful.”

Jolly has received national attention regarding his bill, including exclusive prime time coverage on CBS’ “60 Minutes” Sunday evening television program.

“Republicans, Democrats and Independents can all agree on one thing – the public did not elect Members of Congress to go to Washington and spend their time raising money for their re-election…They are not paying members $174,000 a year to spend, in some cases 20 or 30 hours a week, on the phone dialing for dollars. But that is exactly what is happening.”-Rep. David Jolly (R)

But while this kind of anti-Washington establishment talk is red meat for Conservative grassroots activists around the country, some believe that Jolly is being hypocritical because of his past history of “dialing for dollars.”

Jolly’s loudest critic is Todd Wilcox, a retired CIA officer and U.S. Army veteran, who is challenging him in the Republican senatorial primary race in Florida.

Wilcox put out a press release calling Jolly a hypocrite and a “career politician” who “wants us to believe he’s had a big change of heart when it comes to money in politics,” adding that his performance on “60 Minutes” was “Emmy worthy.”

Here is Wilcox’s press release:

 

No one has been more committed to keeping the Washington money machine churning than David Jolly – and few have been nearly as good at it.   David Jolly is a Washington staffer turned K Street lobbyist turned US Congressman and now wants a promotion to the Senate. Over the last two decades, he raised big money for his boss, convinced clients to give big, gladly accepted millions for his first and second campaigns AND just last year creatively transferred hundreds of thousands of that money to his current campaign.

 

 

His is a cautionary tale of how much time and resources are spent chasing the almighty dollar when someone goes to Washington and just won’t leave. But because every career politician loves a good redemption storyline, David Jolly wants us to believe he’s had a big change of heart when it comes to money in politics. After actively benefiting from the not-so-secret world of DC dialing-for-dollars on the tax payers dime, Congressman David Jolly isn’t fooling anyone. So when he tilts his head, squints ever so slightly, looks into the camera and says, “the American people deserve better,” know that it’s the only piece of nonfiction in his act. So put the kids to bed, pop some popcorn and grab a beer, because THIS performance is going to be Emmy worthy!

 

Wilcox and Jolly are in a growingly contentious primary race against Rep. Ron DeSantis, builder Carlos Beruff, and Florida Lt. Governor Carlos Lopez-Cantera.

The winner of the Republican senatorial primary race will face the winner of the already ugly Democratic senate primary race between Rep. Alan Grayson and Rep. Patrick Murphy.