'Democrat' and Libertarian file to run against Jolly in Pinellas congressional race
The Democratic Party's new candidate for Congress in Pinellas County is an unknown who lives in Tampa and in what may be a first can't actually run as a Democrat.
Ed Jany is a U.S. Marine Corps Reserve colonel with an accomplished resume. But politically speaking, he's no Alex Sink, the well known, well financed candidate who narrowly lost the special election March 11 to Republican David Jolly.
"Just when you think things can't get any more bizarre for the Democrats, they get more bizarre," said Darryl Paulson, professor emeritus of government at the University of South Florida St. Petersburg.
"It certainly is a bit stunning and somewhat surprising," said Pinellas Democratic Commissioner Janet Long.
"Quite frankly under the very best of circumstances, running a congressional race is very difficult... So if you just decide to run for Congress and you don't have an infrastructure and built-in base, I'm not quite sure how that works."
Jany, 49, is officially running as an independent candidate with "no party affiliation," though his campaign was touted heavily on Friday by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which recruited him. The reason is a quirk of state law that says people can't run for a party's nomination unless they have been registered in the party for at least one year. Jany used to be a Republican, but switched to Democrat several months ago out of frustration with last year's federal government shutdown.
Jany will face Jolly, now an incumbent, and Libertarian Lucas Overby in the Nov. 4 general election.
Jany spoke briefly to reporters Friday in a conference call, discussing his interesting personal and professional background. He was born in Brazil and moved as a child with his family to the United States. He is fluent in Portuguese and Spanish. He served in the Army's Special Forces and is a colonel in the Marine Corps, set to retire in July. He has been based at Special Operations Command at MacDill Air Force base. He also has been a law enforcement officer, and was once shot in the line of duty. He lives with his wife and two daughters in Tampa near MacDill. They have been looking for several months for a place in Pinellas, possibly on Sand Key.
"To those of you who understand duty and honor, it's very obvious that our representatives in Washington are not serving the country the way that they should," he said.
Partisan fighting, he said, is preventing Congress from "helping businesses grow jobs, cutting wasteful spending, balancing our budget and looking out for our seniors and veterans."
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'Democrat' and Libertarian file to run against Jolly in Pinellas congressional race