News4Jax: Jacksonville Mayoral Race Heats-Up

[Metro Jacksonville]

News4Jax: Jacksonville Mayoral Race Heats-Up



Kent Justice of Channel 4 interviews Mayor Alvin Brown, Bill Bishop and Lenny Curry.

Read More: http://www.metrojacksonville.com/article/2015-feb-news4jax-jacksonville-mayoral-race-heats-up

[coredumped]

Is pbs going to do a debate again?

[Jimmy]

Yes, March 12, simulcast on FCN. All candidates confirmed.

I understand there will be two other debates.

[coredumped]

Awesome, thanks Jimmy!

[Cheshire Cat]

Alvin Brown courting the Tea Party

A hot topic before the Duval County Republican Party Lincoln Day dinner was Mayor Alvin Brown wowing the attendees at the Tea Party’s Leaderboard Luncheon. One of Brown’s leading Republican supporters, local real estate magnate Toney Sleiman ( the Jacksonville Landing developer who has featured in Alvin Brown television ads) reportedly took Brown to the lunch to help with his ongoing outreach to socially conservative Republicans.

One attendee posted on Facebook that the Democratic mayor had given Tea Party activists “a lot to think about” regarding the election. Reports are that Mayor Brown was so highly regarded that he was asked why he didn’t switch parties.

With that kind of reception, many who were not there wonder if there was a quid pro quo reached between Mayor Brown and the Tea Party activists relative to stopping the HRO, or Human Rights Ordinance, being extended to the LGBT community.

Local Tea Party activists oppose such a measure, which was defeated by one vote in City Council in 2012.

For their part, both the event organizer, Billie Tucker, and the Brown Campaign Deputy Manager Fabien Levy deny such a quid pro quo happened.

Tucker says that he “did not address” the HRO. Levy, meanwhile, did not address the questions specifically regarding Sleiman brokering the lunch or a possible agreement to stymie the anti-discrimination legislation supported by the Jax Chamber.

The Alvin Brown campaign’s Fabien Levy had this to say regarding the luncheon.

“Mayor Brown spoke about all that he’s done working with Republican, Democrats, and Independents to put Jacksonville first. On his first day in office, the mayor sat down with Republican Governor Rick Scott to talk about how they could work together and the two have had a great relationship since,” claimed Levy.


For full story click link:  http://floridapolitics.com/archives/8328

[Jimmy]

^ Ugh.

[Tacachale]

2012-296 was introduced, say people familiar with Brown Administration thinking, without cooperation with the Mayor’s Office, which some claim is the reason that the Brown Administration stayed neutral during the discussion.

...

Others, meanwhile, adhere to the belief that Mayor Brown’s reticence on this issue is because he opposes such legislation, both because of personal religious beliefs (the Mayor is a devout Southern Baptist, and many pastors in his orbit do not support such a measure) and because he believes such a measure would not sit well with socially conservative Republicans, whose support he wants.

The idea that the HRO supporters didn't reach out to Brown is demonstrably false. I guess that just leaves the second half.

[Jax native]

A.G. Gancarski is working so diligently on reporting so many happenings in the upcoming elections and local politics no one else is talking about.  He is definitely one to read and keep up with.  From Florida politics. com and Folio Weekly, his writing has been spectacular.