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Just came over the Pinellas County Election website- David Jolly wins! 225 of 225 Precincts Reporting Percent Votes David W. Jolly (REP) 48.43% 88,294 Alex Sink (DEM) 46.56% 84,877 Lucas Overby (LPF) 4.83% 8,799 WRITE-IN 0.18% 325 182,295

The March 11 special election to see who takes Florida’s 13th Congressional district has become ground zero on a single issue — Obamacare — and may give a preview of what the 2014 midterm elections in November. David Jolly, the political newcomer who is taking on Democrat Alex Sink, appeared on “Your World” Monday and discussed the race withFox News host Neil Cavuto. He reminded Cavuto that President Obama took the district in 2012, so it all comes down to the president’s signature piece of legislation.

Hampton, Fla., has fewer than 500 residents. It’s a tiny blip you pass through on the drive between Gainesville, home of the University of Florida, and Jacksonville. The city is known mostly for being a notorious speed trap right near Gainesville. Now, thanks to a damning state audit released last month, the place might get dissolved. (Think about that for a second: This is the city that might be too far gone for Florida, a state that should be impossible to shock, a state where the chief export is bizarre news.) The audit reported a host of problems: unreliable accounting,...

More than a thousand people marched on the state Capitol today demanding a repeal of Stand Your Ground legislation. When they left, they left with a threat. Led by the Reverend Al Sharpton, police estimate 1200 people came from as far as Miami with a common goal. “We’re trying to amend the Stand Your Ground law,” said Virginia Lawrence of College Park, GA. “Can you imagine all the injustice?” On stage, Congresswoman Corrine Brown (D-Jacksonville) called the state and Stand Your Ground “stuck on stupid.” Trayvon Martin’s mother said she would not let her son die in vain. “Right is...

Freddi Newman, 16, of Plantation, was in the crowd Friday when President Barack Obama visited Coral Reef High School in southwest Miami-Dade County. The mostly student audience of 1,650 at the "mega magnet" school in the Richmond Heights community roared with excitement for the president.

Clearwater, Florida (CNN) -- It's for just one congressional seat for about eight months, but Tuesday's special election in Florida has taken on huge political significance.National Republicans are framing Tuesday's special election as a referendum on Obamacare. But their message -- plus a flood of outside spending by Democrats focused on the issue of Social Security -- is drowning out other issues in the race, Republican candidate David Jolly says.His Democratic opponent, Alex Sink, isn't shying away from the health care debate, touting the law's benefits and saying she's open to improvements.Both parties are looking at this race as a...

One of the trends that had been worrying Republicans in tomorrow’s special House election in Florida — the partisan breakdown of absentee ballot returns — has reversed itself and may in fact be on its way to exceeding expectations for the GOP candidate, David Jolly...

Charlie Crist, the Republican-turned-Democrat running to reclaim the governorship of Florida, said that he doesn’t think the Affordable Care Act has “irreparably harmed” Floridians, and, in fact, “I think it’s been great.” Crist called health care a “civil right,” saying, “People need to have shelter, they need food, they need water, they need health care, and they deserve it.” When CNN’s Candy Crowley asked him about those who have undoubtedly lost their health care because of Obamacare, Crist said that’s “exactly why we have the Affordable Care Act. Exactly why is to make sure that they don’t lose it in...

Their frustration had been mounting for weeks. But by late January national Republicans had had it with David Jolly, their candidate in Tuesday’s nationally watched Florida congressional special election. The candidate had just told the state’s top political reporter that he disagreed with an ad the party was airing against his Democratic opponent — a spot paid for with the nearly $500,000 the GOP had already spent on Jolly’s behalf....

This was the flag of slave holding states in the United States that seceded in 1861, causing Civil War. Today the symbol is used by the Ku Klux Klan, Neo-Nazi groups, and other organizations who are hostile to African-Americans. For the last several decades, protests have continued, demanding that this flag not be displayed in public places. Many people were greatly disturbed to see that the Confederate Flag is now being displayed, not in the United States, but in Kiev, the capital city of Ukraine. Larry Holmes, a civil rights activist in New York City, explained why the flag is...

MIAMI (AP) — With just weeks left to sign up for health care under the Affordable Care Act, Michelle Obama zeroed in on recruiting the crucial young adult demographic during a visit to a Miami community health center Wednesday. The first lady congratulated a handful of residents who had just enrolled during an intimate event, asking one woman whether she had gotten her son to enroll. "Tell him he could get hit by a car. It's crazy. They don't think about that kind of stuff," said Obama, who moments later applauded another mother for signing herself and adult son up...

The Tampa Bay Times newspaper will begin offering buyouts to current workers in advance of a round of layoffs, according to company memos posted online. This comes as the St. Petersburg-based newspaper faces increasing financial strain and works with business consultants to “improve the company’s financial results.” Employees will have between March 10 and 24 to consider the packages, which could include up to 13 weeks of severance, plus two extra weeks, according to a memo sent to employees by Human Resources Director Sebastian Dortch that was posted on the website of the Poynter Institute for Media Studies, which owns...

One of our favorite unhinged Democratic Congressmen, Rep. Alan Grayson of Florida, has been accused by his wife of allegedly assaulting her during a domestic dispute. More from the AP: Florida U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson's wife has accused him of pushing her during an argument over the weekend, but he claims the allegations are a lie. The Orange County Sheriff's Office confirmed Tuesday that it was investigating a reported domestic violence incident between Grayson and his wife, Lolita, but no charges have been filed. Grayson's office released a statement denying his wife's accusations. Grayson says he never touched his wife,...

Students at a central Florida high school are devoting their prom money to helping a popular math teacher who is very ill in his third round with cancer, WESH reported. The prom team at Pine Ridge High School in Deltona has taken on the moniker Team Charlie in honor of Charlie Lundell, who has been at the school since it opened 20 years ago, according to WESH. "He really cares about helping people learn and really wants us to be our full potential," junior class President Katie Buday said of Lundell, and students want to help him out. Now the...

Largo police have apologized for entering a home without a search warrant and kicking in a bedroom door at a transitional housing property where they believed vagrants had taken over an empty home, according to a Sergeant who was there at the time. The incident happened around noon on Sunday at a home located on 128th Lane N., in Largo, according to dispatch records. "We explained to them why we were there and why we were in the house," said Sgt. Andrew Hill. "(We) immediately told them that we were absolutely sorry for coming into the house." Tenant Keith Montgomery...

NORTH PORT (FOX 13) - A man who broke into a home in North Port was shot to death by someone inside the home. It happened just after midnight Saturday on Deming Avenue. Police say the intruder managed to get inside the home and that's when he was shot by one of the occupants.

Florida police officers are accused of using a cellphone tracking and monitoring device without court permission, saying the device was on loan and they signed a confidentiality agreement with the manufacturer.

A Polk County family says bullying may force them to pull their 14-year-old daughter out of school. Haines City Police said it has launched an investigation into the bullying, and the FBI is also looking into the complaint.Fourteen-year-old Zarah Habibulla says the bullying started last December when she began wearing a headscarf to school as part of her Muslim faith. Zarah said she is now scared to go to school after students have taunted her saying, “terrorist, yo we got some terrorists here we gotta run,” and “…I’m going to shoot you. I’m going to bomb you. You better watch...

HOLIDAY — On Monday morning, authorities say, 33-year-old Jaime Velez put on a pair of rubber gloves and slipped a gun into his waistband. He went to a chiropractic clinic to confront the man who snitched on him. Velez's girlfriend, who has not been named, was one of chiropractor Lenny Linardos' patients at West Coast Spine and Injury Center on U.S. 19, said Pasco Sheriff Chris Nocco. Recently, Linardos told the woman that Velez was having an affair with an employee at the chiropractic office. Velez called Linardos and threatened him, Nocco said. Linardos, 46, took the threats seriously. Nocco...

A legally blind man who was acquitted in the shooting death of another man fought in court Thursday to get his guns back. John Rogers said he has the right to have both of his guns returned to him. While Judge John Galluzzo said he did not want to return the guns to Rogers, he said it was the law. Rogers' guns were confiscated by law-enforcement officers after he fatally shot a man. He was later acquitted. "I have to return property that was taken under the circumstance," Galluzzo said. "I have researched and haven't found case law to say...