BRADENTON -- Alex Sink, Lucas Overby and David Jolly, candidates for Florida's 13th Congressional District, will debate each other on Bay News 9 tonight at 7 p.m. The March 11 race is expected to be one of the most closely watched in the nation and a bellwether for November elections.

The seat, which was vacated by the passing of Republican U.S. Rep. C.W. Bill Young, is considered a must-win for Democrats in order to have a shot at winning a House majority in November. Sink, a former Florida CFO who narrowly lost to Governor Scott in 2010, has strong support from the Democratic National Committee. 

This is the first office that Jolly, a former lobbyist who also served as an assistant to Young, has sought. He easily won the Republican primary, though he's not considered a particularly well-known candidate. Overby, a 27 year-old commercial dive supervisor who was a National Honor Society student at Lakewood, is a lifelong Pinellas resident who is running on the Libertarian ticket.

The debate will be moderated by Bay News 9 senior anchor Al Ruechel and Tampa Bay Times Political Editor Adam Smith. It will be broadcast live from St. Petersburg College's Seminole campus.

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