David Wilson Jolly (born October 31, 1972) is an American attorney, former lobbyist and politician who served as the
U.S. representative
The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...
for
Florida's 13th congressional district
Florida's 13th congressional district is an electoral district for the U.S. Congress on Florida's Gulf Coast, reassigned in 2012, effective January 2013, to Pinellas County.
See whole Florida state map for 2013, with the 13th district coveri ...
, based in
Pinellas County
Pinellas County (, ) is a county located on the west central coast of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 959,107. The county is part of the Tampa–St. Petersburg– Clearwater, Florida Metropolitan Statistical ...
, from 2014 to 2017. A former
Republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
, he previously served as general counsel to his predecessor,
Bill Young
Charles William Young (December 16, 1930 – October 18, 2013) was an American politician who served in the United States House of Representatives from 1971 until his death in 2013. A Republican from Florida, Young served as chairman of the H ...
.
He won the race for Young's seat in a
special election
A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-larges ...
against
Democrat
Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to:
Politics
*A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people.
*A member of a Democratic Party:
**Democratic Party (United States) (D)
**Democratic ...
Alex Sink
Adelaide Alexander Sink (born June 5, 1948) is an American politician and financier. A member of the Democratic Party, Sink was the Chief Financial Officer for the state of Florida and treasurer on the board of trustees of the Florida State Boar ...
.
He was subsequently reelected in November 2014, winning 75 percent of the vote, but was unseated in 2016 by former
Governor
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
Charlie Crist
Charles Joseph Crist Jr. (; born July 24, 1956) is an American attorney and politician who served as the 44th governor of Florida from 2007 to 2011 and as the U.S. representative for from 2017 to 2022. Crist has been a member of the Democratic ...
after court-ordered redistricting made his district more Democratic. Since leaving office, Jolly has become a prominent Republican critic of U.S. president
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...
. In September 2018, Jolly announced he had left the Republican Party.
Early life
Jolly was born in
Dunedin, Florida
Dunedin is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. The name comes from ''Dùn Èideann'', the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Dunedin is part of the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater metropolitan area and is ...
, the son of Judith and Lawson Jolly, a Baptist pastor.
[ He received his B.A. degree from ]Emory University
Emory University is a private research university in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1836 as "Emory College" by the Methodist Episcopal Church and named in honor of Methodist bishop John Emory, Emory is the second-oldest private institution of ...
in 1994 and his J.D. degree from the George Mason University School of Law
The Antonin Scalia Law School (previously George Mason University School of Law) is the law school of George Mason University, a public research university in Virginia. It is located in Arlington, Virginia, roughly west of Washington, D.C., and ...
in 2001.
Early career
He worked for Republican U.S. Representative Bill Young
Charles William Young (December 16, 1930 – October 18, 2013) was an American politician who served in the United States House of Representatives from 1971 until his death in 2013. A Republican from Florida, Young served as chairman of the H ...
full time from 1995 to 2006 in various positions, with a brief break for six months in 2001 when he worked at a Washington securities firm. In 2002, Jolly became Young's general counsel and held that position until he left in 2006.[ He served as the personal attorney for Young's family as well.][
In 2007, Jolly joined Washington, D.C. firm Van Scoyoc Associates as a ]lobbyist
In politics, lobbying, persuasion or interest representation is the act of lawfully attempting to influence the actions, policies, or decisions of government officials, most often legislators or members of regulatory agencies. Lobbying, which ...
and in 2011, he left Van Scoyoc to open his own firm, Three Bridges Advisors. He made political donations to both Republicans (about $36,000) and Democrats (about $30,000) during his time as a lobbyist. Jolly had his name removed from the Lobby Registry to run for the vacant House seat.[ At the time, Jolly was working as vice president of the Clearwater-based investment company Boston Finance Group.][
Jolly and his first wife bought a condo in ]Indian Shores, Florida
Indian Shores is a town in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. The town is a beach-front community situated on a barrier island west of Seminole. The population was 1,420 at the 2010 census.
Geography
Indian Shores is located at (27.850 ...
, in 2005 and a house in Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
, in 2007.[Adam C. Smith for the Tampa Bay Times. January 3, 201]
Pinellas congressional candidate David Jolly: Connected and up to speed, but local enough?
, tampabay.com; accessed September 16, 2016. His divorce from his wife Carrie was finalized on January 16, 2014, and Jolly married Laura Donahoe on July 3, 2015.
In July 2018, Jolly became executive vice president and principal of Shumaker Advisors Florida, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Shumaker, Loop, and Kendrick law firm, at their Tampa office. In making the announcement, the firm said he would be involved with various community issues, including the effort to build a new stadium for the Tampa Bay Rays
The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. Since its inception ...
major league baseball team.
Political career
Jolly formerly opposed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
The Affordable Care Act (ACA), formally known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and colloquially known as Obamacare, is a landmark U.S. federal statute enacted by the 111th United States Congress and signed into law by Presi ...
but stated on an interview with MSNBC that during unemployment he had a new appreciation for its use as a "safety net". He is pro-life
Anti-abortion movements, also self-styled as pro-life or abolitionist movements, are involved in the abortion debate advocating against the practice of abortion and its legality. Many anti-abortion movements began as countermovements in respons ...
. Speaking about firearms policy, Jolly said: "I do believe the Second Amendment is a fundamental right, but I don't believe it's beyond the reach of regulation, and I believe it's appropriate to look at regulations that ultimately keep the guns out of the hands of criminals." He supports the Balanced Budget Amendment
A balanced budget amendment is a constitutional rule requiring that a state cannot spend more than its income. It requires a balance between the projected receipts and expenditures of the government.
Balanced-budget provisions have been added t ...
and says he would have voted to raise the debt limit
A debt limit or debt ceiling is a legislative mechanism restricting the total amount that a country can borrow or how much debt it can be permitted to take on. Several countries have debt limitation restrictions.
Description
A debt limit is a l ...
in early 2014.
Jolly supports sending special operations forces overseas, securing the border, increasing the vetting process for legal immigrants, and increasing surveillance of suspected domestic terrorists. In February 2014, Jolly introduced the Naval Station Guantanamo Bay Protection Act.
Jolly pushed to extend the ban on oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico
The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an oceanic basin, ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of ...
. In January 2015, Jolly announced plans to introduce a bill that would extend the reforms of the federal flood insurance
Flood insurance is the specific insurance coverage issued against property loss from flooding. To determine risk factors for specific properties, insurers will often refer to topographical maps that denote lowlands, floodplains and other areas tha ...
program. In July 2015, Jolly introduced the Veterans Health Care Freedom Act. Jolly encouraged the U.S. House to extend the Treasure Island beach renourishment project.
On July 21, 2014, Jolly announced his support for the legality of same-sex marriage, stating: "I believe in a form of limited government that protects personal liberty. To me, that means that the sanctity of one’s marriage should be defined by their faith and by their church, not by their state." He said "As a matter of my Christian faith, I believe in traditional marriage."
In April 2016, Jolly's United States Senate campaign spokesperson Sarah Bascom confirmed that the campaign had made edits to his Wikipedia page to remove information about Jolly, including references to the Church of Scientology and his lobbying activities, alleging that it presented a "public negative narrative" against him, and accused an unnamed rival campaign of adding "propaganda
Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded ...
" to the article. Jolly called it "a careless staff mistake" and said that he stands by his record and wants the public to be fully informed.
Jolly was ranked as the 48th most bipartisan member of the U.S. House of Representatives during the 114th United States Congress
The 114th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States of America federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from Jan ...
(and the fourth most bipartisan member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Florida) in the Bipartisan Index created by The Lugar Center
Richard Green Lugar (April 4, 1932 – April 28, 2019) was an American politician who served as a United States Senator from Indiana from 1977 to 2013. He was a member of the Republican Party.
Born in Indianapolis, Lugar graduated from Den ...
and the McCourt School of Public Policy
The McCourt School of Public Policy is one of ten constituent schools of Georgetown University. The McCourt School offers master's degrees in public policy, international development policy, policy management, data science for public policy, and ...
that ranks members of the United States Congress by their degree of bipartisanship (by measuring the frequency each member's bills attract co-sponsors from the opposite party and each member's co-sponsorship of bills by members of the opposite party).
Since leaving office, Jolly has participated regularly as a political commentator on cable news sources such as CNN
CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...
and MSNBC
MSNBC (originally the Microsoft National Broadcasting Company) is an American news-based pay television cable channel. It is owned by NBCUniversala subsidiary of Comcast. Headquartered in New York City, it provides news coverage and political ...
; in this capacity he has been critical of President Donald Trump and has fueled speculation that he would run for public office again. He considered running for lieutenant governor of Florida in 2018
File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...
on a bipartisan ticket, with former Democratic congressman Patrick Murphy as the candidate for governor. Jolly ultimately decided not to run for any public office in 2018.
Tenure
Committee assignments
* Committee on Appropriations
The United States House Committee on Appropriations is a committee of the United States House of Representatives that is responsible for passing appropriation bills along with its Senate counterpart. The bills passed by the Appropriations Commi ...
** Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies
** Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies
** Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies
Caucus memberships
* Congressional Constitution Caucus
The Congressional Constitution Caucus is a congressional caucus made up of 41 members of the United States Congress. The caucus was founded in 2005; it had 37 members the first year it was founded.
The group was founded and formerly led by Repu ...
Elections
2014 special election
On January 14, 2014, Jolly won the Republican nomination over Mark Bircher and Kathleen Peters
Kathleen M. Peters (born February 27, 1961) is an American politician of the Republican Party and a former member of the Florida House of Representatives, representing the 69th District, which includes southern Pinellas County, stretching from ...
, winning a plurality of 45% of the vote.[ Jolly faced Democratic nominee ]Alex Sink
Adelaide Alexander Sink (born June 5, 1948) is an American politician and financier. A member of the Democratic Party, Sink was the Chief Financial Officer for the state of Florida and treasurer on the board of trustees of the Florida State Boar ...
and a libertarian candidate, Lucas Overby, in the special election. The race received national attention as possibly forecasting the mid-term elections that were coming in November of that year and became the most expensive Congressional race in history, with around $11M spent, $9M of it by outside groups.[ During the campaign there was friction between the ]National Republican Congressional Committee
The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) is the Republican Hill committee which works to elect Republicans to the United States House of Representatives.
The NRCC was formed in 1866, when the Republican caucuses of the House and S ...
and Jolly; the RNC thought Jolly's campaign was inept, and Jolly criticized the negative ads run by the RNC. and voters were generally unhappy with the overwhelming number of attack ads on both sides.[
Jolly won the election on March 11, 2014, with 48.4% of the vote after being behind in the early tallies; he was sworn into office on March 13.]
2014 general election
Jolly ran for reelection to a full term in November 2014. He was unopposed in the Republican primary, and no Democrat ran against him in the general election; his only challenger was Lucas Overby, the Libertarian
Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's e ...
nominee who came in third in the special election one year prior. Jolly defeated Overby with 75% of the vote.
2016 U.S. Senate election
On July 20, 2015, Jolly announced that he was giving up his seat to run for the United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States.
The composition and pow ...
seat being vacated by Marco Rubio
Marco Antonio Rubio (born May 28, 1971) is an American politician and lawyer serving as the senior United States senator from Florida, a seat he has held since 2011. A member of the Republican Party, he served as Speaker of the Florida Hous ...
, who was not running for reelection due to his bid for the U.S. presidency
The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United Stat ...
. As of August 2015, it appeared that Jolly would face several opponents in the August 30, 2016 Republican primary election, including U.S. Representative Ron DeSantis
Ronald Dion DeSantis (; born September 14, 1978) is an American politician serving as the 46th governor of Florida since January 2019. A member of the Republican Party, DeSantis represented Florida's 6th district in the U.S. House of Represe ...
and Lieutenant Governor of Florida Carlos López-Cantera
Carlos Lopez-Cantera (born December 29, 1973) is an American politician who served as the 19th lieutenant governor of Florida from 2014 to 2019.
A member of the Republican Party, Lopez-Cantera represented the 113th district in the Florida House ...
. However, on June 17, 2016, after Rubio reversed his decision, Jolly withdrew from the Senate race to run for re-election to the House, citing "unfinished business."
2016 general election
In his bid for a second full term, Jolly faced former Florida Governor and St. Petersburg resident Charlie Crist
Charles Joseph Crist Jr. (; born July 24, 1956) is an American attorney and politician who served as the 44th governor of Florida from 2007 to 2011 and as the U.S. representative for from 2017 to 2022. Crist has been a member of the Democratic ...
, a former Republican who had turned Democratic after a brief stint as an independent. He found himself in a district that had been made significantly more Democratic after a court threw out Florida's original congressional map. Notably, it absorbed a heavily Democratic portion of southern Pinellas County, including almost all of St. Petersburg. Previously, some of the more Democratic portions of St. Petersburg had been in the Tampa-based 14th District.
Ultimately, Jolly lost to Crist by 51.9% to 48.1%. Jolly's defeat ended a 62-year hold on this St. Petersburg-based district by the GOP. William Cramer won the seat for the Republicans in 1954, handing it to Young in 1970. The district had changed numbers seven times during this period, from the 1st (1955-1963) to the 12th (1963-1967) to the 8th (1967-1973, 1983–1993) to the 6th (1973-1983) to the 10th (1993-2013) to the 13th (2013-present).
Electoral history
References
External links
*
*
*
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Jolly, David
1972 births
21st-century American politicians
American lobbyists
Antonin Scalia Law School alumni
Emory University alumni
Florida Independents
George Mason University alumni
Living people
MSNBC people
People from Dunedin, Florida
Members of Forward (United States)
Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Florida