Jax mayoral politics on the state's radar...

[Jaxson]

APRIL 18, 2011
Watching Jacksonville's mayoral race

Tip O'Neill's view that all politics is local applies particularly well to mayoral contests, where partisanship tends to be trumped by other factors. We saw that in the election of (Republican) Bill Foster in St. Petersburg in 2009 and the election of (Democrat) Bob Buckhorn this year.

Now there's a fascinating mayor's race playing out in Jacksonville, featuring a tea party Republican, Duval Tax Collector Mike Hogan, against a conservative African-American Democrat, Alvin Brown, a former Bill Clinton aide and now a business school dean.

Jacksonville's most recent mayors, John Peyton and John Delaney, have been moderate Republicans, but in the era of tea party activism, there's a chance voters in the May 17 election may find a centrist Democrat more reflective of the community than a hard-right Republican whose campaign website talks about his commitment to protecting gun rights and combating abortion and illegal immigration, before creating jobs.

Stunningly, one of Florida's top Republican fundraisers, former St. Joe chief executive Peter Rummell, endorsed Brown on Friday. Not stunningly, Gov. Rick Scott on Friday joined Hogan â€" the heavy favorite â€" for a tea party antitax rally.

Even while many voters put aside partisanship, the results on May 17 could be an indicator of the climate facing Barack Obama in 2012. After all, George W. Bush won Duval County by 16 percentage points, or nearly 62,000 votes, in 2004, while John McCain in 2008 edged out Obama by less than 2 percent, under 8,000 votes.

"If Alvin Brown gets in the low 40s or doesn't even crack 40 percent, that's not a good sign for Obama," said Mason-Dixon pollster Brad Coker.

Brown's pollster, Dave Beattie, said in a recent memo that the race will come down to who has the resources to define themselves and turn out their base: "(Brown) was outspent by a greater than 23-to-1 margin by the other major candidates combined. Yet he is still within striking distance because of a strong grassroots campaign and a message that isn’t about race or partisanship, but about the future of Jacksonville. The campaign is a simple choice for voters -- the past or the future: Alvin Brown, who is a businessman who will lead the city in a new direction, or Mike Hogan, who is a 20-year politician who supported the policies that led to our city budget expanding, taxes increasing, and public education failing. If Brown has the resources to communicate his forward-looking vision of Jacksonville to a wider audience, he can win in May.

Source: St. Petersburg Times
http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/the-buzz-florida-politics/content/watching-jacksonvilles-mayoral-race

[fsujax]

If Brown wins I think this would become a national story.

[wsansewjs]

If Brown wins I think this would become a national story.

I would be gleaming with tears and live to breathe the day Jacksonville has finally cracked its shell open.

-Josh

[duvaldude08]

This would be monumental for our city, however being an Africian American I already know this will be a hard pill for some to swallow. As quiet as its kept, there is still very poor race relations in this city (if you cacth my drift). If/when he wins (wishful thinking), there is going to be tension for quite sometime. However, I do feel that once the fear of change goes away, everything will be smooth sailing.

[fsujax]

Not only the racial factor, but just the politics alone. Pundits would have a field day with it.

[Jaxson]

I think that it could have the same impact that Mayor Hartsfield had on Atlanta.  A potential turning point for our city!

[duvaldude08]

I think that it could have the same impact that Mayor Hartsfield had on Atlanta.  A potential turning point for our city!

Man I wacthed a special how he turned that city Atlanta around. And Atlanta was majority white when he got elected. He was amazing! It was jaw dropping to see the thing that happen under his administration.

[Timkin]

Talk about jaw-dropping! If Alvin wins, it will feel like an aftershock in this city, with all the jaws dropping.

[duvaldude08]

Talk about jaw-dropping! If Alvin wins, it will feel like an aftershock in this city, with all the jaws dropping.

I actually predict a mass suicide in the st john's river if Alvin win's. LMAO

[Timkin]

LOL.. hey ...gotta do what ya gotta do.   So jump off a bridge and make it count  

[CS Foltz]

Race, from my point of view, has no bearing on this...........it is a question of who is the right person for the job and as of today, Mr Hogan has not convinced me of much of anything! Until he does, Mr Brown will get my vote, along with my significant other!

[Timkin]

agree

[johnnyroadglide]

also agree

[vicupstate]

The man who turned Baltimore's Downtown from a slum to a national standard for revitilization, died yesterday.  He also served as MD Governor (1987-1995) after serving as Mayor from 1971 to 1987.     

"You don't need a charming, wavy-haired talker for a mayor. You need the toughest, canniest, most obsessive sonofabitch in town. You need someone who's going to make it his life."

-- William Donald Schafer, who died yesterday, quoted in a great 1984 Esquire profile, which is now online thanks to Ben Smith.

After 8 years of wavy hair, Jax now needs the latter.

[Timkin]

May he rest in peace.  May we end up with such a Mayor.