With her legal options exhausted, Democrat Christine Jennings announced Wednesday she was ready for a vacation from the seven-month drama surrounding last year's quirky Sarasota County congressional race.
In a message to campaign supporters announcing she was stepping away with family, Jennings touted reforms to do away with paperless elections in Florida and a similiar push in Congress, and the fact that Sarasota broke with ES&S (the company that built their voting machines).
This month, Congress also launched its own investigation into why so many people who showed up at the polls in November failed to record votes in the District 13 contest.
But this week, Jennings also received a severe setback from a Florida appeals court in her lawsuit to get access to ES&S computer software.
"I believe I have accomplished much as an advocate for the voters and for fair and accurate elections," Jennings wrote. "Now, with the investigation underway and preliminary findings expected by July 27, I am going to spend some time away with family and friends and begin focusing on the future. I will announce my future political plans shortly."