As for the Mayor's race, that outcome was very surprising. The demographic shift here must be changing faster than we realize. A very historic night, as we've elected our first woman mayor. Congrats to Donna and impressed with Davis for conceding gracefully. Hopefully, the community can work together to create a better Jacksonville for all.
I'm not sure I agree. Remember, this is the same electorate that DeSantis took by 10 points - the demographics haven't changed in 6 months. I'm not a gambler but I would have bet cash money that Deegan would win. Here's why:
- Deegan successfully pinned JEA and Lot J on Davis, and while he wasn't elbow deep in the cookie jar on JEA, he definitely had enough of his hand in there that he couldn't really deny it. Side note, credit Curry and Aaron Zahn on creating the most bipartisan issue in Jacksonville on not selling JEA. Congrats, guys.
- On the other hand, Davis' campaign tried as hard as they could to make Deegan out to be the woke Mayor and tried to make us out like the next San Francisco (actual flyer). The problem is, the Sheriff, State Attorney, and a Supermajority of Council are all Republican, and the far left crap isn't happening. Plus, none of Deegan's campaign points come off as far left. Yea she had the Black Lives Matter quote right after the George Floyd Murder that Davis hit her on, but that was it.
- Davis ran a historically terrible campaign...worse than Mike Hogan's in 2011 against Alvin Brown and that's saying something. I realize why they kept Mike Hogan locked up though I didn't agree with it - he was truly not a good speaker and says random craziness. On the other hand, they overcoached the crap out of Davis. Tacachale nicknamed him ChamberBot 2000 which was extremely accurate. The thing was...off the cuff he actually wasn't bad. Not exactly Reagan-esque or anything, but fine. Everyone that knew him kept saying, "This isn't the Daniel Davis I know." Why on earth he listened Curry, Baker, and the rest of the guys I'll never know. I realize his opponent is a former TV News Anchor whose job was to be in front of a camera, but it was too much.
-The campaign very much sounded like Curry's third term....which fits with the above as it was the same people running it. The thing is, Curry isn't very liked. Very few people think he's doing an excellent job. Even the GOP rank and file think he's been, "ok, not great". It's obvious he's coasted in his second term, which I'm guessing is a result of the JEA sale falling through and no money for legacy projects.
- Deegan got just enough of the GOP to flip....not a ton, but Curry and company have alienated just enough of the GOP that they had an axe to grind.
- With all of that said: The county is overall pretty purple but leans red. Yes, DeSantis won 55-45 in November, but that was also aided by a roaring state economy post-covid, a VERY weak Democratic candidate that the dems seemed to be apathetic about, and a somewhat popular Senator in Rubio.
Bottom line: The county isn't as bright red as it seemed in November, but isn't really blue either. You can probably point to the Property Appraiser's race, where Jason Fischer did literally nothing except state he was endorsed by DeSantis, and Joyce Morgan has name recognition.
My biggest hope is that we all can come together behind Deegan as Davis said in his concession speech (really good BTW, clearly not written by Tim Baker).
