Jacksonville Mayoral Election 2023

[marcuscnelson]

We had a thread like this in 2015, and it's most certain we'll be needing one this coming cycle.

Just to establish the facts, incumbent Mayor Lenny Curry is term limited, and can not run for a third term. That leaves the position open to whoever can garner the support of citizens to win it.

Duval County notably voted for Democrat Joe Biden in 2020, the first time it has done so in a presidential race since Jimmy Carter in 1976. It similarly supported Andrew Gillum's unsuccessful bid for Governor of Florida in 2018. Whether this trend continues to municipal elections is yet to be seen.

[marcuscnelson]

I'm getting word of a first contender.

Dr. Richard Danford Jr., President of the Jacksonville Urban League and husband of District 1 Councilwoman Joyce Morgan reportedly announced this morning that he would seek a bid for Mayor of Jacksonville in 2023.

As of this post, he does not appear to have filed to run.

[thelakelander]

I'm pretty sure Daniel Davis will also be running for Mayor in 2023.

[marcuscnelson]

I've heard that rumor quite a few times. I'm sure he'll announce soon enough.

[jaxlongtimer]

Following past patterns, I would expect one or more council members to throw their hat in the ring.  Maybe a person or two from the corporate community.  Keep an eye on the Our Jax crowd too - I could see them sourcing someone of their ilk given their recent activism in civic goings-on.

Duval County notably voted for Democrat Joe Biden in 2020, the first time it has done so in a presidential race since Jimmy Carter in 1976. It similarly supported Andrew Gillum's unsuccessful bid for Governor of Florida in 2018. Whether this trend continues to municipal elections is yet to be seen.

You cite national and state Democratic candidates carrying Duval.  Problem for Dems is who, locally, among them has a solid county-wide foundation nowadays?  I assume Danford is a Dem so that's one.  Donna Deegan maybe.  Garrett Dennis to the chagrin of some? A past mayor, Alvin or Tommy, running again?  How about Godbold's right "hand", Chris Hand? Midyette who just ran a close county-wide race?

[Ken_FSU]

^Yep, all of the above.

Daniel Davis is about as close to a lock as you can get.

And he's certain to be Khan and the Jags' preference. Next mayor will likely determine whether the Jags remain in Jacksonville or are sent packing and, for better or worse, I think Davis is a guy who will get stadium upgrades and a lease extension negotiated, even though I think it'll come at the expense of some developer-friendly deals on the other projects the Jags are pushing.

City Council wise, I know first-hand of one City Council member who's going to be announcing a bid by January, but based on comments from that Twitter thread that you linked to Marcus, there might be multiple.

And totally agree JaxLongTimer that it sure feels like OurJax might field a candidate as well. That group has been kicking up a lot of dust in the last year. PURE speculation my part, and it might just be wishful thinking, but I wonder if Audrey Moran might consider giving it a second go. I've always really liked her, and I think 2023 seems like her best opportunity yet.

[marcuscnelson]

Now that there's actually evidence of the area being potentially competitive for Democrats, it really is anyone's game. I imagine Gillum's win here was too soon for anyone to take advantage of, plus a likely lack of a candidate prepared to go against Curry at the time. To top it off, his reelection was before the JEA scandal and everyone realizing that a blank check to JSO didn't solve crime.

To answer you jaxlongtimer, I can't say I know much about Danford, but seeing that he's been with the Urban League for nearly three decades, I imagine he'll have at least some support. That plus being Morgan's husband. Deegan definitely has a chance among Dem donors, but it's not clear what her support is among voters who are in Al Lawson's district that she'd almost certainly need to win. I think Dennis is a cool guy, but I don't know what his plan is to stand out in what looks to be a crowded field. Not to mention that no one on City Council has won in a long time. Brown I presume is paying for a job in Washington, Hazouri is getting up there in years and probably not up for it after the last council meeting. Hand… I don't know, obviously Delaney managed it but it's been a while since Delaney. Midyette could be an interesting entry, don't know if he has aspirations for Mayor though.

Ken: from what I hear, Davis is basically Curry's chosen successor. He's at JaxChamber now for a reason. I've made my case for what should become of the Jaguars developments. I've heard about OurJax, and I think some of their people follow me on Twitter, but I don't know what their pull looks like in terms of gathering support. I can't say it'd be surprising if a number of Council members declare, but again, it's been a while since anyone on Council made it to the Mayor's office.

I'd be lying if I wasn't looking at some of these races with CityLife's comment in mind. Obviously still doing well at UF and law school is a priority, but beyond that, you know…

[marcuscnelson]

City Council member Matt Carlucci (R, At-Large Group 4) has told Jim Piggott of News4Jax that he intends to run for Mayor of Jacksonville in 2023 on a platform of “open government.”

As of this post, he does not appear to have filed to run.

[jaxlongtimer]

City Council member Matt Carlucci (R, At-Large Group 4) has told Jim Piggott of News4Jax that he intends to run for Mayor of Jacksonville in 2023 on a platform of “open government.”

As of this post, he does not appear to have filed to run.

No surprise.  Carlucci ran before and lost because the votes were fractured too much among all the "moderates" running leaving the extremes to make the primary.  After the public response to his leadership in defeating Lot J, I think he would have some very good tail winds going into a mayoral race.

Carlucci's biggest challenge could be trying to avoid his last experience and working to discourage others from entering the race that could siphon off his votes again.

Our Jax was a big part of Lot J getting defeated.  They have a lot of heavy hitters and whoever they get behind will have a big head start.  If they rally around Carlucci, he should be able to put forth a formidable campaign.  In fact, I would move Carlucci to the front of the line if I were betting on the race, subject to the above comment about vote siphoning.

I can see Daniel Davis being portrayed as Curry's protege.  After JEA and Lot J, I don't think that's going to help his cause and it could be fatal to his campaign.  Davis may also be well known in the business community via the Chamber but I am not so sure many of the general citizenry are going to recognize him.  For being head of the Chamber, he has kept a much lower public profile than past Chamber CEO's, leaving it to Aundra Wallace and others to be more out front.  That could be a double edged sword.  No doubt, he won't have trouble raising lots of dollars from Chamber friends and Khan, but money might not be enough in the next round to win.

[thelakelander]

Mayoral candidate Carlucci and tackling climate change



Jacksonville City Councilman Matt Carlucci announced Thursday that he will be running for mayor in 2023 and he tells WJCT News that addressing climate change and sea level rise would be a priority for his administration.

Read More: https://www.thejaxsonmag.com/article/mayoral-candidate-carlucci-and-tackling-climate-change/

[Ken_FSU]

City Council member Matt Carlucci (R, At-Large Group 4) has told Jim Piggott of News4Jax that he intends to run for Mayor of Jacksonville in 2023 on a platform of “open government.”

As of this post, he does not appear to have filed to run.

No surprise.  Carlucci ran before and lost because the votes were fractured too much among all the "moderates" running leaving the extremes to make the primary.  After the public response to his leadership in defeating Lot J, I think he would have some very good tail winds going into a mayoral race.

Carlucci's biggest challenge could be trying to avoid his last experience and working to discourage others from entering the race that could siphon off his votes again.

Our Jax was a big part of Lot J getting defeated.  They have a lot of heavy hitters and whoever they get behind will have a big head start.  If they rally around Carlucci, he should be able to put forth a formidable campaign.  In fact, I would move Carlucci to the front of the line if I were betting on the race, subject to the above comment about vote siphoning.

I can see Daniel Davis being portrayed as Curry's protege.  After JEA and Lot J, I don't think that's going to help his cause and it could be fatal to his campaign.  Davis may also be well known in the business community via the Chamber but I am not so sure many of the general citizenry are going to recognize him.  For being head of the Chamber, he has kept a much lower public profile than past Chamber CEO's, leaving it to Aundra Wallace and others to be more out front.  That could be a double edged sword.  No doubt, he won't have trouble raising lots of dollars from Chamber friends and Khan, but money might not be enough in the next round to win.

Great breakdown!

Question for those who have been in Jax longer than I have:

I've heard several people almost single-handedly credit Matt Carlucci with "saving" the Laura Street Trio.

What's the story behind this?

[fieldafm]

City Council member Matt Carlucci (R, At-Large Group 4) has told Jim Piggott of News4Jax that he intends to run for Mayor of Jacksonville in 2023 on a platform of “open government.”

As of this post, he does not appear to have filed to run.

No surprise.  Carlucci ran before and lost because the votes were fractured too much among all the "moderates" running leaving the extremes to make the primary.  After the public response to his leadership in defeating Lot J, I think he would have some very good tail winds going into a mayoral race.

Carlucci's biggest challenge could be trying to avoid his last experience and working to discourage others from entering the race that could siphon off his votes again.

Our Jax was a big part of Lot J getting defeated.  They have a lot of heavy hitters and whoever they get behind will have a big head start.  If they rally around Carlucci, he should be able to put forth a formidable campaign.  In fact, I would move Carlucci to the front of the line if I were betting on the race, subject to the above comment about vote siphoning.

I can see Daniel Davis being portrayed as Curry's protege.  After JEA and Lot J, I don't think that's going to help his cause and it could be fatal to his campaign.  Davis may also be well known in the business community via the Chamber but I am not so sure many of the general citizenry are going to recognize him.  For being head of the Chamber, he has kept a much lower public profile than past Chamber CEO's, leaving it to Aundra Wallace and others to be more out front.  That could be a double edged sword.  No doubt, he won't have trouble raising lots of dollars from Chamber friends and Khan, but money might not be enough in the next round to win.

Great breakdown!

Question for those who have been in Jax longer than I have:

I've heard several people almost single-handedly credit Matt Carlucci with "saving" the Laura Street Trio.

What's the story behind this?

From my recollection, he was the person that led the charge to protect them with the National Register designation, and convinced Mayor Delaney and COJ to purchase the buildings (2001-2002 timeframe-ish) from an absentee owner that was literally blasting off the cornices as they were preparing to demo. A few years later, the police and fire pension fund was given the buildings in exchange for crediting the City's pension fund contribution for something like $3 or $4 million. The fund flipped the properties to Cameron Kuhn and booked the profit.

Carlucci also developed the historic trust fund, which helped pave the way for Vestcor's reuse of the Carling and 11East, and other projects. More info on Carlucci's recent efforts to strengthen the fund he helped give birth to:
https://www.thejaxsonmag.com/article/carlucci-seeks-to-replenish-downtown-preservation-trust/

Here is a picture of when said owner was demolishing the old Center Theater and Kay Jewelers buildings. In this picture you can see where he had already gutted the Florida Life Building in preparation for demo. Not long after these buildings were torn down, the owner started started blasting off the cornices at the top of Florida Life. You can still see the pieces that are missing if you stand on Laura Street and look up.  Steve Atkins (current owner) has the moldings for the cornices, and the plan is to recreate them when the buildings are redeveloped.

[vicupstate]

If Carlucci had beaten Peyton, Jacksonville would be a very different city today.  As far as DT goes, Carlucci seems to 'get it' better than 90% of the city councilmen that have served since 2000. 

[Ken_FSU]

^FANTASTIC info and images, did not realize how close the Trio came to joining the causality list.

Much appreciated, Mike!

[thelakelander]

The last time I spoke to Carlucci was a few months ago. He was pushing behind the scenes to make sure the JEA building is adaptively reused, once JEA moves out in two years.