Beverly Young, the widow of late, longtime Pinellas County Congressman Bill Young, says she intends to run for her husband's former seat in 2016 — against the man she initially endorsed in the CD13 special election earlier this year, David Jolly.
Mrs. Young made her comments to the Tampa Bay Times on Tuesday night (the same publication that she accused of printing lies after they reported their devastating story in January about the former Congressman's "first family").
"I am absolutely going to run against David in 2016. I'd do it now if I could. If I'd known that the Democrats wouldn't put anyone up on that ballot, I'd have been there myself this time. I thought they had a candidate. I wouldn't have been ready. But I would have run anyway," Mrs. Young said Tuesday night in an interview.
Jolly is staying above the fray.
"Congressman Jolly is focused on doing his job for the people of Pinellas County," said Sarah Bascom, who handles the political side of the Congressman's organization. "2016 is a long way away."
Although little is known about Mrs. Young's politics beyond her intense support of our military troops, Pinellas Democrats might want to think twice about dismissing her remarks about running. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in Washington D.C. still has considerable egg on its face after its prized recruit, Marine Reserve Col. Ed Jany, dropped out of the race less than 10 days after announcing his candidacy, effectively giving up what was still considered to be a prime seat for Dems to capture in November after Alex Sink's narrow 1.8 percentage point loss in March.
The full Democratic debacle also includes alienating the black community with the heavy-handed dismissal of the Reverend Manuel Sykes by Pinellas Democratic Chair Mark Hanisee. (CL attempted to contact Hanisee today to register his reaction to Mrs. Young's comment, but has not heard back from him.)
In her interview with the Times, Mrs. Young says that after she grew concerned about her financial situation, she contacted 10 members of Congress about speeding up the delivery of the benefits due her after Bill Young's death. She says only two members responded, with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi being the lawmaker who aided her. (She says House Speaker John Boehner ignored her messages.)
Beverly Young was all in for Jolly during the special election campaign, including appearing in an ad where she endorsed her husband's former aide. But she says that all changed for her when she said Jolly reneged on his deathbed promise to Bill Young that Jolly would maintain Young's staff immediately after the election. "He made promises to my husband that he was going to continue to carry on his legacy, and the first thing he did was dump the people who made his legacy what it is,” Young told WFLA's Lauren Mayk last month. “He’s made a mockery out of my husband’s life and his legacy.”
How toxic are Beverly Young's feelings towards the congressman? At a ceremony at the Bay Pines National Cemetery on Memorial Day, Mrs. Young reportedly stood and walked out of the event when Jolly gave his remarks.
