 In the 2012 U.S. Senate election, Pinellas voters helped re-elect U.S.Senator Bill Nelson over challenger Connie Mack IV with 59% of the vote, greater than his statewide average of 55%.In the 2010 U.S. Senate election, Pinellas was one of only four Florida counties won by outgoing Republican Governor Charlie Crist, a St. Petersburg native, who won 42% of Pinellas voters running as an Independent in a three-way race with Republican nominee (and eventual winner) Marco Rubio and former Democratic U.S. Representative Kendrick Meek, who won 37% and 16.8% of the Pinellas vote, respectively.