Republican wins Florida special election

last updated 8 January 2015

Republican David Jolly won a special election in Florida's 13th District in a widely watched race that has been seen as a bellwether for the 2014 midterms. Jolly won 48.5 percent of the vote with nearly all ballots counted, according to the Associated Press, defeating Democrat Alex Sink, who had run an unsuccessful campaign for governor in 2010.

The race attracted a lot of money for a congressional contest — more than $11 million — as well as high-profile surrogates like former President Bill Clinton. In the coming days expect to see Republicans touting Jolly's victory as evidence that ObamaCare — a hot-button issue in Florida — will be an albatross for Democrats in the midterms and possibly cost them the Senate.