David Jolly Pondering Exit From GOP Senate Race

GOP Rep. David Jolly of Florida is considering whether to drop his run for US Senate and focus on re-election to his House of Representatives job instead, according to Politico.

Jolly's campaign would not confirm his plans, but Politico reported that local Republicans have shared polling data with him that points to the success of a re-election run.

Marco Rubio held the US Senate position in question. While he was running for president, Rubio promised to exit his Senate job in January 2017.

However, Politico reports that GOP Senate leader Mitch McConnell's efforts to get Rubio to run for re-election have overshadowed the efforts of Republican candidates to run for the job.

"This Rubio crap from McConnell and the boys just killed us," one Republican told Politico.

Jolly told Politico in a letter that if Rubio runs for re-election, he would exit the race and support Rubio. Jolly told the Tampa Bay Times that he believes Rubio will run for re-election. Jolly told the Times that the only reason he ran was because it was an open seat, and he was not interested in taking on Rubio.

Jolly would be competing with former Florida governor Charlie Crist for Jolly's US representative job. Crist is a former Republican who the GOP perceives as an enemy, Politico said. Crist ran for Florida governor as a Democrat in 2014, and lost to incumbent Rick Scott by 1 percent. 

Jolly is polling second in the Senate race to businessman Carlos Beruff, according to a Mason Dixon poll report.

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