Kimberly Daniels

[Jaxson]

Regardless of her political or religious beliefs, I have to give credit to Kimberly Daniels for what she successfully did - win an at-large city council seat as a Democrat who happens to be a black female.  Yes, it was a city council race that left many voters holding their noses, but Daniels managed to make it out of the primary election and squeaked by in the general election. 
I especially commend Kimberly Daniels for taking a gamble on running for office when many races lacked a Democrat.  Does this mean that I agree with her on her controversial stances?  No.  But I think that she succeeded when many predicted yet another Republican juggernaut election. 
My question for the Metro Jacksonville gang is, "How did Kimberly Daniels succeed in winning what would usually be hard for a Democrat to win?"  Any answers?!

[Jimmy]

Republican support, especially by white evangelical voters.

[Jaxson]

Regardless of her political or religious beliefs, I have to give credit to Kimberly Daniels for what she successfully did - win an at-large city council seat as a Democrat who happens to be a black female.  Yes, it was a city council race that left many voters holding their noses, but Daniels managed to make it out of the primary election and squeaked by in the general election. 
I especially commend Kimberly Daniels for taking a gamble on running for office when many races lacked a Democrat.  Does this mean that I agree with her on her controversial stances?  No.  But I think that she succeeded when many predicted yet another Republican juggernaut election. 
My question for the Metro Jacksonville gang is, "How did Kimberly Daniels succeed in winning what would usually be hard for a Democrat to win?"  Any answers?!

I think Kimberly benefitted from heavy african american turnout, frankly.  It was a side effect of Alvin Brown winning and being able to get out the vote.

I think she is loathsome, but her power to make mischief is much less than Hogan's would have been as mayor.  Its an acceptable loss in order to win the larger office.

Conversely, I feared that Kimberly Daniels would have been the kind of motivation for many voters to vote just to keep her out of office and then vote a straight ticket - resulting in a Brown loss.  Thankfully, my fear was unfounded.

[Timkin]

Regardless of her political or religious beliefs, I have to give credit to Kimberly Daniels for what she successfully did - win an at-large city council seat as a Democrat who happens to be a black female.  Yes, it was a city council race that left many voters holding their noses, but Daniels managed to make it out of the primary election and squeaked by in the general election. 
I especially commend Kimberly Daniels for taking a gamble on running for office when many races lacked a Democrat.  Does this mean that I agree with her on her controversial stances?  No.  But I think that she succeeded when many predicted yet another Republican juggernaut election. 
My question for the Metro Jacksonville gang is, "How did Kimberly Daniels succeed in winning what would usually be hard for a Democrat to win?"  Any answers?!

I think Kimberly benefitted from heavy african american turnout, frankly.  It was a side effect of Alvin Brown winning and being able to get out the vote.

I think she is loathsome, but her power to make mischief is much less than Hogan's would have been as mayor.  Its an acceptable loss in order to win the larger office.

My concern of Daniels is ....How will she do as a Council person? 

[Jimmy]

Daniels herself said she'd been mischaracterized in the press.  She now has the opportunity to show us whether that's true, or not.  I'm hoping for our sake that she was completely mischaracterized and that she will be an effective and fair citizen-legislator on the Council.

A noted local pollster just posted some hard data that could also help to explain the outcome here.

Women Rule: 55.13% of voters were female in the recently concluded city elections. 21,270 more female voters cast ballots than males Females account for 53.94% of registration. Turnout: Males 36.8% Females 38%. Turnout among those of unknown gender was 18.4%. City Council District 7 60% of the electorate was female. District 8 - 61%. District 9 - 61 % District 10 - 61%.

[Jaxson]

On a side note, I thought that it was amusing that First Coast News misspelled her name during the election returns, calling her "Kimberley Daniels."  Don't they have a sample ballot lying around or did the not see her campaign signs (Well designed, too) all over the city/county landscape? - LOL!

[Tacachale]

Daniels definitely benefited from Brown's get-out-the-vote campaign and from the support of evangelicals, but Taylor's own issues certainly took much of the wind out of his sails. Like the mayoral race a number of factors made it close, and in the end the scales tipped Daniels' way.

[Jimmy]

I have a hard time extrapolating any important lessons for Dems generally from this race.  Other than make sure Dems run for every seat on the ballot because you never know how things will go with opponents, media, or other races.

(But this lesson is pretty basic in life.  If you don't take the field you can't win the ballgame.)

[Tacachale]

If there's a lesson at all, it's that though Republicans have tended to come out on top in the citywide elections for the last 16 years (longer in state and national races), they rarely win by a large margin, and the right combination of factors can push a Democrat over the top. Having a strong base of supporters and having a weak Republican opponent may be the two biggest factors.

[Jaxson]

I have a hard time extrapolating any important lessons for Dems generally from this race.  Other than make sure Dems run for every seat on the ballot because you never know how things will go with opponents, media, or other races.

(But this lesson is pretty basic in life.  If you don't take the field you can't win the ballgame.)

AMEN, Brother Jimmy!!!

I think that Kimberly Daniels definitely illustrates what Shelton Hull was trying to say in a previous MetroJacksonville article.  The local Dems need to put more skin in the game and be ready to make as many races as competitive as possible.  
I think back to the months leading up to 1992 when Democrats like Sam Nunn and Mario Cuomo opted not to run for president because they thought that they had a snowball's chance in hell.  Look who came along and won the whole enchilada?  [Cue Fleetwood Mac's "Don't Stop Thinking About Tomorrow]

[Timkin]

Daniels herself said she'd been mischaracterized in the press.  She now has the opportunity to show us whether that's true, or not.  I'm hoping for our sake that she was completely mischaracterized and that she will be an effective and fair citizen-legislator on the Council.

Her videos are pretty self-explanatory.  I never personally met her, but if her message in that video was not of hatred , bias , and bigotry, I don't know what is.  She is in office and not by my vote.  I don't endorse hatred, and her message , at least to me was crystal clear.  

[duvaldude08]

Daniels herself said she'd been mischaracterized in the press.  She now has the opportunity to show us whether that's true, or not.  I'm hoping for our sake that she was completely mischaracterized and that she will be an effective and fair citizen-legislator on the Council.

Her videos are pretty self-explanatory.  I never personally met her, but if her message in that video was not of hatred , bias , and bigotry, I don't know what is.  She is in office and not by my vote.  I don't endorse hatred, and her message , at least to me was crystal clear.  

I agree Timkin. I watched her videos too and She did NOT get my vote. Hope she leaves her "beliefs" at the door when its time to come to a meeting.

[Jaxson]

What do I think is the moral of this story?  'Unelectability' is in the eyes of the voter and, like many contests in life, we must be present to win... 

P.S. - M.C. Hammer is apparently a king/queenmaker - LOL

[Jimmy]

Oy.

[Jaxson]

It sort of reminds me of the kid who runs for student council or homecoming queen on a whim.  Classmates and peers do not take it very seriously, but guess who ends up winning?  I am still mystified by this city council race.  Oy, indeed!