Election Day Live Coverage

[thelakelander]

http://www.lennycurryformayor.com/lennysplan/

[wanderson91]

Can someone paste a link on here where Lenny Curry lays out his vision for Jacksonville?  Cause I have no clue what his Mayoral term will be like.

By that, I mean in his own words.

I looked back and see that he has never served the public before, only the Republican Party, and that is what I am expecting.

This was my problem with the campaign he ran. I don't remember a single ad where he laid out what he wanted to do for the city.

[hiddentrack]

It wasn't the fact that he did not raise taxes, it was not the fact that he gave back part of his salary, it wasn't his photo-ops for every event, it was his lack of leadership.

I agree, but if not providing leadership meant a sure defeat, then Peyton would have been defeated for re-election too. The only real question I have is would Brown have been better off being less 'Tea Party lite' and more of a SLIGHTLY more partisan Democrat.  While he may have gotten some GOP votes with his no tax pledge,etc., I think he took the wind out of the sails of his Democratic base in doing so. He probably lost as many votes as he gained, maybe more.  Had he taken a stronger stand for HRO either during this campaign or in 2012, would he have won?  If he had accepted a modest tax increase (which happened anyway and which his opponent blamed him for) in order to fund some popular programs, would he have been better off?

I'm not sure if he would've won, but I think he would've at least earned stronger support. That stronger support might've energized Brown himself, and I think he could've used it.

The Brown campaign didn't seem to have any fight in it. It was like he just stood up there expecting to win, thinking his record would speak for itself, not realizing that Curry was hammering away at his record so much that it was unrecognizable. If the Brown campaign ever took Curry seriously, it was too late in the game.

I got more crap in the mail from Lenny Curry than I've ever received from a single candidate in all my years of voting. During the entire campaign, I can only remember a single item that supported Brown, but I would get 2 or 3 items from Curry some weeks. I assume that's because Curry's campaign went hard after registered Democrats. If Curry outspent Brown 4:1, like I-10east posted, I'm not surprised at all.

[Tacachale]

It wasn't the fact that he did not raise taxes, it was not the fact that he gave back part of his salary, it wasn't his photo-ops for every event, it was his lack of leadership.

I agree, but if not providing leadership meant a sure defeat, then Peyton would have been defeated for re-election too. The only real question I have is would Brown have been better off being less 'Tea Party lite' and more of a SLIGHTLY more partisan Democrat.  While he may have gotten some GOP votes with his no tax pledge,etc., I think he took the wind out of the sails of his Democratic base in doing so. He probably lost as many votes as he gained, maybe more.  Had he taken a stronger stand for HRO either during this campaign or in 2012, would he have won?  If he had accepted a modest tax increase (which happened anyway and which his opponent blamed him for) in order to fund some popular programs, would he have been better off?

       

Peyton made a lot of missteps in his first term, but not to Brown's level. He also didn't alienate a good chunk of his biggest supporters. And of course at the time, the Democrats struggled to mount a successful challenge.

Beyond that, I think you're right about the right wing stances. They were designed to appeal to voters who never were going to turn over in mass for a Democrat, while also turning off a lot of Democrats and moderates. He still did solid numbers (he actually got a bit more votes than he did last time), but that's not where you want to be as an incumbent. He wasn't running against Mike Hogan this time, and he was no longer the new fresh face.

In 2011, Brown got 97,307 votes, beating Hogan's 95,645. This year, Brown got 97,971 votes, while Curry got 103,256. This means in the last election, a lot of voters just stayed home, turned off by Hogan, but unconvinced by the newcomer Brown.

Those are the voters Brown really needed to beat a solid Republican challenger. He had four years to convince them, but apparently his performance didn't sway them.

[mtraininjax]

What I find interesting however is that the republican establishment threw everything into this race but the kitchen sink: three billionaires, two ex mayors, one university president, fear mongered their ass off, played high shenanigans to get him selected by the REC and all of that was only worth 5,000 votes.

To quote the great Vince Lombardi (he was a famous American football coach, if you don't know): "Winning isn't everything....It's the Only Thing." It does not matter if Ronald Reagan was propped up from beyond and came down and blessed his spirit to the Curry camp.....Curry won, who cares how much billions in trees were killed, it will all happen again in 4 years, and sooner next year with the Presidential election. While trees, resources, feelings are shattered.......wikipedia will only report who wins.....not how they won.

if Curry doesn't learn how to work with them over the next four years the same thing will happen to him.

Big difference here is that Curry has been in Jacksonville, business in Jacksonville, knows a lot more people in Jacksonville than Brown did when he waltzed in from DC as the puppet for those same Billionaires. Curry has more ties to the local community, it will help him.

[mtraininjax]

yawn.

You still tired from your overnight party at Sleiman's? Perhaps a nap is in order.

[CityLife]

All in all, other than Brown's narrow loss and Lisa Kings crushing defeat in oceanway (go figure) Im pretty pleased with the outcome of the election.

Scott Wilson replaces his much less capable former boss, Don Redman
Anna Brosche will be seated
Joyce Morgan will be amazing
The Council will have actual leaders on it with Hazouri and Boyer
Kim Daniels is gone,
Manboy Clay Yarborough is gone
Lumb is gone
We dodged two bullets in not electing either Anania or Youngblood
the crazies who did make it to the runoff were crushingly defeated
We got a hell of a good guy in the Sheriff's office
Mike Hogan will move into the Supervisor of Elections position
and we retained Jerry Holland, who has been a superb public servant.

All in all, I think as a city, we did pretty damn good.

You also throw in Aaron Bowman, former CO of Mayport and Senior VP at Jax Chamber and its a much stronger council.

[mtraininjax]

no, just bored with your boorish behavior. After four years of your incredibly weird sour grapes posting about Brown's win, you apparently want everyone to be as graceless as you were, but I don't think thats going to happen.  Its mostly grownups here (no offense, red baron) and this isn't a sports match, its the city we all live in.

Blah, Blah, Blah, I would expect no less from you. But hey, I have good news for you. There are people who were turned off by the left-wing ideology who are thinking of returning and posting and injecting their right-wing philosophies for you. So you are going to get an increase in people on the thread....isn't that great news?

Win with class and lose with class, no I wasn't happy that Hogan lost 4 years ago, but I stayed, trudged through the mud and dirth of Brown's administration, just as I did with Peyton and Delaney. They too are people, they make mistakes, but at the end of the term, whether you are re-elected or you make the grade in a James Crooks book chapter depends on your mistakes and how you learned from them.

We are all in this together, every 4 years, so I am hoping Curry learns from mistakes, as he will make his fair share of them and move on. Mistake #1 to learn from, do not have Toney Sleiman on your campaign materials.

[CityLife]

^Bowman has had one of the most distinguished careers of any recent Council member in my opinion. Naval Academy Grad, holds an MBA, Commanding Officer of Mayport (which is a very important job locally), has served on the Florida Inland Navigation District Commission, and has been Sr. VP of Business Development for Jax Chamber for 3 years. I don't know his exact political ideology, but have heard a lot of good things about him. Plus, its always good to have a Council full of varied professional backgrounds and experiences. I imagine he will be a big asset to the Council on economic development, military, and port related issues.

[Tacachale]

And could we give it a rest on the claims of despicable negative campaigning? Both sides, I'm sure, did their fair share of hitting below the belt. Rarely do Democrats in an urban environment pass up the opportunity to do so, so . . . enough of that.

Can you give some examples? Given Curry had no public record to run on, that would not have been an easy thing to do.

Have you been reading this website?

Additionally, there was the whole thing about Curry "turning back the clock" on race relations. Brown and his operatives also had an unfortunate tendency to attack individuals who were supporting Curry, which just didn't pan out. He had a solid share of negativity, but he wasn't nearly as good at it.

[Tacachale]

true taca.  If he had been nice to a single gay person in public, it probably would have gone differently.

What I find interesting however is that the republican establishment threw everything into this race but the kitchen sink: three billionaires, two ex mayors, one university president, fear mongered their ass off, played high shenanigans to get him selected by the REC and all of that was only worth 5,000 votes.

All of the right wing extremist candidates lost, and a couple of progressive dems got elected-----which considering the down ticket nature of and real partisanship shouldn't have happened especially having outspent Brown 4 to 1.

Its a different city, and it belongs to all of us moderates.

Factoring in changing demographics, if Curry doesn't learn how to work with them over the next four years the same thing will happen to him.

I wouldn't put it like that, but I agree that Curry is going to have to reach across the aisle and govern holistically if he hopes to win again.  But he'll also have to govern effectively. Brown was very good at being bipartisan, and it didn't help him win. The issue is how he went about it all. He managed to turn off a lot of people, including several of his major supporters, who would have been perfectly happy supporting him again. I speak from experience on that point.

[Cheshire Cat]

Well, I think there are a significant amount of Reagan Democrats remaining on the rolls in Duval County. The identity politics of the national Democrat Party just doesn't fly with them, period.

And could we give it a rest on the claims of despicable negative campaigning? Both sides, I'm sure, did their fair share of hitting below the belt. Rarely do Democrats in an urban environment pass up the opportunity to do so, so . . . enough of that.

And Cheshire Cat, after that week to recover from this loss it would be good if you started off by acknowledging that Lenny is not of the "far right" -- that's a laughably absurd assertion. The man is an establishment Republican, period, and those folks certainly aren't from the far right.

Cheer up, Democrats. A diverse city council in a multiplicity of ways should be a good thing for the city. A Republican mayor should be a good thing for the city. Shad Khan and Rummel both trying to move Downtown forward should be a good thing for the city.

No need to be pessimistic, people. Big Duval is looking good.

I did not make the week to recover comment.  As far as Lenny not being far right, as I have stated I will give him a chance to show us that he is going to lead for all members of our society be they GOP or not.  I wish him well because I wish the city well. 

[DuvalHusky]

According to the Curry campaign, young children chasing chickens in their backyards is a cornerstone of a "safe again" Jacksonville. When do we get our chickens?

[Cheshire Cat]

true taca.  If he had been nice to a single gay person in public, it probably would have gone differently.

What I find interesting however is that the republican establishment threw everything into this race but the kitchen sink: three billionaires, two ex mayors, one university president, fear mongered their ass off, played high shenanigans to get him selected by the REC and all of that was only worth 5,000 votes.

All of the right wing extremist candidates lost, and a couple of progressive dems got elected-----which considering the down ticket nature of and real partisanship shouldn't have happened especially having outspent Brown 4 to 1.

Its a different city, and it belongs to all of us moderates.

Factoring in changing demographics, if Curry doesn't learn how to work with them over the next four years the same thing will happen to him.

I wouldn't put it like that, but I agree that Curry is going to have to reach across the aisle and govern holistically if he hopes to win again.  But he'll also have to govern effectively. Brown was very good at being bipartisan, and it didn't help him win. The issue is how he went about it all. He managed to turn off a lot of people, including several of his major supporters, who would have been perfectly happy supporting him again. I speak from experience on that point.

He absolutely must reach across the isle to all parties and all people including the GLBT community.  One thing he needs to get through his head right quick is that discrimination is very much alive in Jacksonville be it racial, religious or based upon sexual orientation. His denial of that during the campaign cycle was frightening to me, considering the reality and the years of studies showing discrimination is indeed a serious problem in our city.  Tale of two cities is very real.

[mtraininjax]

According to the Curry campaign, young children chasing chickens in their backyards is a cornerstone of a "safe again" Jacksonville. When do we get our chickens?

I have a number of friends in Murray Hill and Avondale who raise chickens in their back yard. I am sure we can get you permit, if you ask.