The victory by Republican David Jolly in Florida’s special election Tuesday gives the GOP bragging rights heading into November’s midterm contests and sends a warning sign to Democrats running this fall.

Jolly, a former lobbyist and aide to the late GOP Rep. C.W. Bill Young, defeated Democrat Alex Sink 49 percent to 47 percent by making opposition to President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul the central argument of his campaign.

The seat in Florida’s 13th Congressional District had been held by Young for more than four decades until his death last fall, but voters in the district also backed Mr. Obama in the 2008 and 2012 presidential elections. Sink also carried the district during her 2010 bid for governor against Republican Rick Scott.

For Democrats, the result signals a tough political campaign ahead, with public dissatisfaction toward the president and the Affordable Care Act high. With Sink, the former chief financial officer of Florida, the party had its preferred candidate and strong fund-raising ability, but was still unable to overcome the health care hurdle.

National Republican groups cheered the development Tuesday.

“Tonight, one of Nancy Pelosi’s most prized candidates was ultimately brought down because of her unwavering support for ObamaCare, and that should be a loud warning for other Democrats running coast to coast,” National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Greg Walden said in a statement.

Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus said Jolly’s victory “shows that voters are looking for representatives who will fight to end the disaster of ObamaCare, to get Washington to spend our money responsibly, and to put power in the hands of families and individuals.”

Democrats did their best to spin the loss.

“Republican special interest groups poured in millions to hold onto a Republican congressional district that they’ve comfortably held for nearly 60 years,” Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz said in a statement. She claimed the GOP “fell short of their normal margin” because of Jolly’s “singular focus” on repealing the health care law.

The simple fact that the candidates and outside groups combined spent more than $12 million on the special election shows just how important winning the contest was to both parties. The win by Jolly gives Republicans a jolt of momentum moving toward the fall, while Democrats must figure out a way to better shield their candidates from attacks over the health care plan.

THE FEINSTEIN-CIA FEUD

One of the Central Intelligence Agency’s strongest defenders, Senate Intelligence Committee Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., suggested the agency may have thwarted the separation of powers in a 45 minute speech on the Senate floor Tuesday. She accused the CIA of improperly removing documents from computers used by the panel’s staff as part of an investigation into the agency’s interrogation methods.

It was first reported last week that the CIA monitored the computers they set up for the Senate Intelligence Committee staff in a secret Northern Virginia facility to review classified documents and prepare a lengthy report on the agency’s secret detention and interrogation programs. But while using those computers, the staff gained access to the CIA’s own internal review of the Bush-era interrogation practices — known as the “Panetta review” — and the CIA wanted to know how.

Feinstein maintains that the CIA report was included in the thousands of pages of documents provided for her committee’s review on those computers and that her staff did not penetrate unauthorized areas of the agency’s network.

CIA director John Brennan denied allegations the CIA had improperly monitored the committee’s work. Speaking at a Council on Foreign Relations event, he said, “That’s just beyond the scope of reason in terms of what we would do.”

“When the facts come out on this,” Brennan continued, “I think a lot of people who are claiming that there has been this tremendous sort of spying and monitoring and hacking will be proved wrong.”

The issue is striking a divide in the Capitol, with most Democrats rallying behind Feinstein. At a closed door meeting of Senate Democrats, the Intelligence Committee chairwoman received a standing ovation.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., also backed up Feinstein, suggesting an independent investigation might be necessary. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., echoed that sentiment, saying, “If what they’re saying is true about the CIA, this is Richard Nixon stuff.”

Republicans on the committee, however, seemed to think Feinstein should have been more reticent. “Right now we don’t know what the facts are,” cautioned Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., the ranking Republican.

LINE ITEMS

TOP TWEETS

Two hours til polls close in #FL13. If Alex Sink loses, Obama has to resign and move into @ThePlumLineGS‘s basement. — daveweigel (@daveweigel) March 11, 2014

POTUS shopping at The Gap, per pool. To support their increased hourly wage, and not because there’s a sale on mom jeans. — Mike Memoli (@mikememoli) March 11, 2014

People who have “interviewed” Obama in the last year pic.twitter.com/Zvuij8UN4B — BuzzFeed Benny (@bennyjohnson) March 11, 2014

Ruth Tam and Rachel Wellford contributed to this report.

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