This has been an excellent week for the DCCC. The state and national parties have been pursuing Florida State Sen. Charlie Justice to run for the House for years now, against incumbent Republican C.W. Bill Young, and now Justice has finally decided to jump.
Florida's Tenth Congressional District, ever the stomping ground of C.W. Bill, is one of the swingiest in the nation, as it dutifully voted for Gore in the 2000 election (by 51% to 49%), Bush in the 2004 election (51-49, again), and Obama in 2008 (51-47).
The district has an overall PVI of R+1, placing it more or less in the middle of the national political spectrum.
Democrat Charlie Justice will end a decade-long state legislative career to challenge C.W. Bill Young for Congress. "The decisions made in Washington D.C. more and more impact our daily lives and that’s what drew me to public service in the first place,’’ said the 39-year-old state senator from St. Petersburg. "We need people in Washington that understand their decisions have real impact on the families and small businesses here."
Young, 78, could not be reached for comment Wednesday evening but told the St. Petersburg Times earlier this month says he has no plans to retire after his 20th term in Congress. He won’t make any decision until next year, however.
Either way, Justice says he’s in: "If he decides to retire after 40 years in Washington, we’ll thank him for his service and if he decides to run again, we’ll have a healthy debate,’’ said Justice, an academic adviser at the University of South Florida.
Young started serving in Congress in 1971. By way of comparison, Charlie Justice was born in 1968.
Young could retire given a robust challenge from Justice, which would make this one a real barn-burner of a race. Either way, it's a major coup for the Democrats.