St. Petersburg – It was dubbed as a small, intimate, event. But a crowd of more than 200 people crowded the fourth floor of The Birchwood along St. Petersburg’s waterfront on Jan. 8 to raise money for Alex Sink, the lone democrat seeking the congressional seat vacated by the late Bill Young.
Sink mingled with constituents throughout the evening before taking to the podium herself, where she thanked those in attendance and promised to motivate change on the national level. But before Sink, a former gubernatorial candidate, took the stage. St. Petersburg City Councilwoman Darden Rice welcomed those in attendance.
“Welcome to our city,” said Rice, who paused for applause. “We are thrilled to have you here, and we are thrilled to support Alex Sink’s bid for congress.”
Rice introduced Hillsborough County Commissioner Kevin Beckner, who asked his fellow Hillsborough County residents to raise their hands.
“I ask because, like you, I can’t vote for Alex Sink in the March primary,” Beckner said. “But I know that Alex Sink will vote for me when we send her to Washington.”
Sink hopes to represent Florida’s 13th District, which covers most of Pinellas County. After the first week of 2014, the Tampa Bay Times reported that Sink has raised $1.1 million for her campaign over three obscure Republicans. But Sink isn’t taking her fundraising lead for granted.
“We haven’t seen the Republican machine pour money in yet, but it will,” she told the crowd. “They’re just waiting to see who I’m running against. That’s why I need your support, and the support of your friends to win this campaign and represent you and the State of Florida in Washington, D.C.”
Sink touched on a few issues, including fiscal responsibility and “reaching across the aisle” to work with Republican representatives in congress. She also talked briefly about equality, which explained the large number of LGBT members of the community in attendance.
She encouraged voter turnout in both the primary and general elections, citing her narrow loss to Governor Rick Scott in the 2010 gubernatorial election.
“I know exactly what it means to wake up the next day knowing you missed it by just this much,” Sink said, holding her thumb and finger just centimeters apart.” Let’s not have a repeat of that this year and for this race”
