Rep. David Jolly (R-FL) on Friday announced that he will no longer seek a seat in the Senate and will instead run for re-election to the House, potentially clearing a path for Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) to run again for his Senate seat.
“I have unfinished business. We have unfinished business together,” Jolly wrote in a Facebook post announcing his decision. “Today I’m asking you for the opportunity to keep doing my job. I ask for your support in seeking reelection to the House of Representatives.”
Jolly will now likely face off against former Gov. Charlie Crist (D) in Florida’s 13th district, which was redrawn last year. Jolly said that redistricting initially prompted him to run for Senate.
“Last year, the courts created a congressional district that partisan leaders said was drawn to ensure only one party could be competitive – and it wasn’t my party. I believed them. And I accepted the encouragement to bring a new voice to the U.S. Senate,” he wrote on Facebook. “But the more I traveled our remarkable state, the more dedicated I became to the opportunity before me, the opportunity to continue to do my day job.”
The congressman has told CNN Friday morning that he would make an announcement about his future later in the day, and he alluded to the potential for Rubio to jump into the Senate race.
“I have been running for 10 months, we’ve been polling out front. And Marco is saying he is getting in,” he said.
