Dem Sink hits GOP opponent on lobbying work in new ad

Alex Sink, the Democrat running in the special election to replace Rep. Bill Young (R-Fla.), knocks her Republican opponent David Jolly directly for the first time in a new ad.

In the television ad, a narrator charges Jolly “cashed in on his connections…got paid over a million dollars working for special interests.”

{mosads}The narrator also says Jolly lobbied for a group “committed to privatizing Social Security” and “lobbied on a plan to turn Medicare into a costly voucher program.”

Sink then cuts in and declares: “If you want to go to Washington to fix what’s wrong with Washington, being a lobbyist is not the way to do it.”

Jolly’s lobbying career, which he began after working in Young’s office, has become a focal point of Democratic attacks on the candidate.

They point to a lobbying disclosure report that reveals Jolly addressed Social Security reform with Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) during his work for a conservative group whose CEO expressed support for privatizing the program.

Jolly has said he didn’t lobby on Social Security, and that he was simply “overcomplying” with disclosure requirements because the issue came up briefly in conversations with Ryan.

Jolly has previously said that he’s “proud” of his lobbying work, and argued that it’s given him the experience needed to get things done in Congress.

On Friday, the Jolly campaign touted the story of Mark Lunsford, who was given pro-bono lobbying help from Jolly to secure funding for an expanded law enforcement effort in response to sex offenders after his daughter was killed by a sex offender.

But Democrats see the lobbying issue as a winning one, especially coupled with reports that Jolly may have lobbied on Social Security and Medicare, two key issues in Florida’s 13th district, which has a significant senior population.

Democrats are waging a fierce battle to pick up the seat, which became more favorable to the party with Young’s passing last year. Democratic groups supportive of Sink have already reserved more than a million dollars in airtime in the district, and this is Sink’s second ad in the race.

Jolly, however, has significantly fewer funds than Sink and thus far has only received help from the National Republican Congressional Committee, which launched a $725,000 ad buy for the candidate last week.

Watch the ad: