Alex Sink Confirms Congressional Run

BRADENTON – She's not running for governor again in 2014, but former Florida CFO Alex Sink will be entering the special election for the seat vacated by recently-departed Congressman C.W. Bill Young. Democrats held their state conference in Orlando this past weekend, and while Charlie Crist stole much of the spotlight, Sink's potential in what has been a safe Republican district caught a lot of the buzz.

Sink was considered a strong candidate for governor in 2010 and lost only by a razor-thin margin in a year that saw Republicans winning historic landslides in every other statewide race. There was some speculation that she would run again in 2014, especially before Crist re-emerged as a Democrat, but the former Bank of America executive finally acknowledged that it was unlikely she could raise enough funds to seriously challenge an incumbent Scott.

While Young's district (which now runs from just north of Palm Harbor to the south end of the Skyway Bridge) has been reliably Republican for many years, Democrats are hoping that voter frustration over the Republican role in the recent government shutdown and debt-ceiling debacle will rally their turnout, while pushing independents leftward.

At Saturday's event dinner, Senator Bill Nelson was reported to have strongly indicated Sink would run for the seat.

Jessica Ehlrich has filed to run as a Democrat in the race, however, national Democratic Party Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman-Schultz reportedly indicated that Sink would be the candidate supported by the DNC.