Democrat Alex Sink opts out of Florida rematch

Democrat Alex Sink has decided not to run again for Congress this year, the Tampa Bay Times reported Tuesday.

“I am so honored and humbled by the outpouring of support our campaign received, but after reflection with my family I have made a personal decision not to run for the 13th Congressional District seat in the 2014 election,” Sink said in a statement. 

{mosads}The announcement is a blow to Democrats, who saw Sink as a strong candidate and wanted her to go for a rematch against Rep. David Jolly (R-Fla.).

Sink was narrowly defeated earlier this year by Jolly in a special election, but Democrats believe a larger turnout could benefit them in the fall.

Jolly won with 48.4 percent of the vote and Sink won 46.5 percent.

In her statement, Sink said she looks forward to pursuing “new, rewarding avenues” to serve Florida constituents, but did not elaborate on what that could be. 

“I look forward to continuing to do good. I remain totally convinced that a Democrat can and will win this congressional seat in the fall, and I look forward to helping the Democratic nominee,” she said.

About a week ago, Sink told the Tampa Bay Times that she was mulling another run for Congress in November. She said she received a detailed analysis of the March 11 special election, and suggested she would have received more support if more independents had turned out to vote. 

Democrats had been aggressively pushing her to run again. 

Both candidates entered the race to fill the seat left open by the late Rep. Bill Young (R-Fla.), who died last October after serving 42 years in Congress.