Election Aftermath

[ChriswUfGator]

If Brown got this in the bag, will there be a representative of MetroJacksonville that can give Brown our inputs on among other representatives in the city?

-Josh

I consider MJ an open forum for many ideas and perspectives.  I am not sure it would be healthy for MJ to be viewed as an advocate for a specific plank outside of a clearly marked editorial or opinion piece.  Surely, individuals involved in MJ ban together to do such advocacy, but to officially have the MJ  name/institution wade full bore into waste deep water would appear to me to impair the appeal of MJ as that no-holds barred, all comers welcome, forum. 

FWIW, if it did advocate, how far would it make it before members of the MJ constituency complained they differed from the "official" MJ advocacy and how would that be resolved?  Heck, the MJ founders seem to have their share of opinions before even considering the rest of us hangers-on.   

I think the power of MJ is to flush out issues and persuade/dissuade individuals to personally escalate their involvement in advocacy of what they believe in.  It further helps people of like persuasion to "mobilize" as groups of people to maximize their impact.  Kind of like the Facebook of Jacksonville issues.

I dunno, the newspapers all give endorsements, and all the same could always be said about them. I think whatever works just works. When it comes to new media there are no hard and fast rules, it's all still developing around us.

[Jimmy]

Jake Godbold on the aftermath:

In an exclusive interview, former Mayor Jake Godbold told the Times-Union by phone this afternoon that the election should have been a relatively easy win for Hogan. Godbold blasted Hogan’s campaign for a series of problems he said it created that turned off voters, including not going to more debates and forums, failing to be more friendly to the media and failing to reach out to more people from the camps of those who lost in the first election â€" especially Audrey Moran.

“Brown won this race because he won a grass roots campaign,” Godbold said. “He didn’t write anybody off. He went and talked to everybody, while on the other side they ran like they had already won it.”

Godbold was a staunch supporter of Audrey Moran’s and gave a lukewarm endorsement to Hogan after she lost in the first race. He held an event that he said raised $7,000 to $8,000 for Hogan, but did nothing more. He said he was troubled by Hogan’s pledge not to consider raising taxes, a promise Brown also made, and Hogan’s coolness to downtown development.

“It was Hogan’s race to lose and he lost it,” Godbold said. “His being against downtown and being kind of anti-moving Jacksonville forward scared a lot of people.”

(will post link once I have it)

[JeffreyS]

Update
Alvin Brown (DEM)   
Percent of total votes
   50.15%   95,955
Mike Hogan (REP)   
Percent of total votes
   49.85%   95,370
              191,325

[JeffreyS]

583 difference after the days first update.

[Doctor_K]

583 difference after the days first update.

3/10 of 1%.

[JSquared]

That adds 768 ballots since the last update.  That would leave roughly 900 outstanding, correct?

[Jimmy]

95,550 Brown vs 95,370 for Hogan, narrowed from 603 to 585, Alvin Brown still leads.  

[JeffreyS]

Sorry it is 585.  Daniels up 121

[Timkin]

This is still looking good.. think I ll keep my fingers crossed.. just no wine today

[Coolyfett]

Jake Godbold on the aftermath:

In an exclusive interview, former Mayor Jake Godbold told the Times-Union by phone this afternoon that the election should have been a relatively easy win for Hogan. Godbold blasted Hogan’s campaign for a series of problems he said it created that turned off voters, including not going to more debates and forums, failing to be more friendly to the media and failing to reach out to more people from the camps of those who lost in the first election â€" especially Audrey Moran.

“Brown won this race because he won a grass roots campaign,” Godbold said. “He didn’t write anybody off. He went and talked to everybody, while on the other side they ran like they had already won it.”

Godbold was a staunch supporter of Audrey Moran’s and gave a lukewarm endorsement to Hogan after she lost in the first race. He held an event that he said raised $7,000 to $8,000 for Hogan, but did nothing more. He said he was troubled by Hogan’s pledge not to consider raising taxes, a promise Brown also made, and Hogan’s coolness to downtown development.

“It was Hogan’s race to lose and he lost it,” Godbold said. “His being against downtown and being kind of anti-moving Jacksonville forward scared a lot of people.”

(will post link once I have it)

Well....even Jake regrets backing Hogan...who did Delaney back? Austin was from Brown....Did Hazouri have a take?? Gotta respect Jakes honesty though. He was and still is a fan of making Jax better and more modern.

[Jimmy]

Well....even Jake regrets backing Hogan...who did Delaney back? Austin was from Brown....Did Hazouri have a take?? Gotta respect Jakes honesty though. He was and still is a fan of making Jax better and more modern.

Delaney was quietly anti-Hogan.  Austin backed Brown.  Mayor Hazouri was with Brown - in fact he was reading election returns from my iPad last night at the Hyatt.

[JeffreyS]

I think lots of groups played into this election result but the voice of this Metrojacksonville.com community is growing and the powers that be would be wise to pay attention.

[Jimmy]

More from Jake, via the TU liveblog:

More from the Times-Union’s exclusive interview with former Mayor Jake Godbold, who blasted Hogan’s campaign for a variety of reasons.

Godbold said Brown scored a major coup when GOP fundraiser Peter Rummell and others decided to endorse and finance him because of their dislike for Hogan. That dislike included a fear that Hogan had no vision and be a poor ambassador for the city.

“When all those money people said this guy’s too negative, he’s against downtown, he’s against all these things we worked so hard for, I think that began to turn [other] people off.”

Godbold said Hogan’s campaign missed plenty of opportunities to help put him over the top and gave him “a lot of bad advice.”

“A lot of people who would have been willing to help Hogan weren’t asked to join him,” Godbold said.

Of his deciding to hold a fundraiser for Hogan, Godbold said, “I just had friends on both sides. I thought Hogan was going to win, but as time went along, Brown really said the things he needed to say and I think he believes what he said.”

(if they ever produce a link, I'll include it here)

[urbaknight]

I'm still worried that the rest of the ballots will go Hogan's way. I'm not trying to sound negative, but cautiously optimistic.

[duvaldude08]

I'm still worried that the rest of the ballots will go Hogan's way. I'm not trying to sound negative, but cautiously optimistic.

Understandable. You never know how the tides may turn.