Uh oh, Lenny Curry backers have begun to jump ship with election day tomorrow.

[Cheshire Cat]

I think there is a pretty good chance that from the moment Peter Rummell ditched Alvin Brown as mayor and said he wanted Lenny Curry to run for Alvin's job, Rummell, Curry and his hard core right leaning conservative backers figured with enough money they could create and polish a candidate to take Alvin Brown out of office. They simply knew he would be the guy to tumble Brown, they had the Civic Council and the Chamber folks in their corner.  Agreements were struck, campaign donations for the former GOP chair rolled in and the packaging of a politically polarized candidate in the person of Lenny Curry, with no experience as an elected official or in city hall was well underway. His audience would be the hard right evangelical element of the GOP. That was his base and where he would draw his money and power.

Curry backers were likely feeling very confident in their ability to sell Curry using a team of pr folks from Miami and Tallahassee to be the backbone of his campaign effort and at the heart of his strategy. It never apparently occurred to them that those individuals would have no clue about local issues or the people who lived here. Those he put on his campaign team were certainly energetic but that energy would soon seem to many after witnessing their campaign style to be something more along the lines of a hyper college frat club.  The strategy was one that entailed tearing down the incumbent mayor and his record but also included blaming him for criminal stats taken from a time he was not in office and lots of hyperbole.  It also included thousands and thousand of repeated and ugly negative mailings about crime and rape with Brown's picture splashed across them in tandem with never ending negative television commercials.  The early stages of the Curry campaign had Curry posting from the bible and sharing family pics along with famous quotes by folks other than himself on FB. All stuff to appeal to the GOP hardliner.  Bash, boom, bang on Alvin Browns head calling out his weaknesses but offering nothing more than a GOP accountant and political operative named Curry as a solution. A man who had no written plan or agenda until the day before early voting started.  Another part of the plan was to neutralize the other republican running for mayor by the name of Bill Bishop.  Bishop is a more moderate conservative who also has lots of experience in elected office and in the doings of city hall.  Experience and expertise far exceeding anything Curry could lay claim to. The problem with Bill was their inability to put him in their pockets, thus making less secure their own influence in city hall and city expenditures. Clearly eight years as an elected official and legislator as well as a background in architecture and business greatly outweighed the accounting background Curry had in his 10 year old business.  In a not so well orchestrated coup the Republican party bent their own party rules for candidate endorsement in order to have Curry become the candidate of choice, he would be King!  When it became clear that the votes to make that declaration were officially not there, at least one Bishop supporter was asked to leave and others had their votes annulled by a clever game of smoke and mirrors.  The die was cast.  By hook or by crook the hardliner, hard right GOP supporters of Curry would have him be King.  The problem is that along the way during the days of political discourse, forums, trash pr and debates the people closely watching, those who would cast their votes figured out that the King being offered up by the GOP elite "had no clothes". He also had no substance.

The arrogance of seeing this as a race between Brown and Curry had those two candidates focused entirely on each other.  One jab after another, day after day and week after week they were at it.   This of course left Bill Bishop free to do his thing unencumbered by political bashing, which was and remains simply sharing his vision and experience in the most positive, authentic way possible.  He was authentic, the real deal, a guy without a personal or political agenda.  The guy that could make or break the election hopes of Brown and Curry.  You see Bill Bishop did this really rare thing.  He answered the questions of voters directly with honesty, facts and figures minus the hype and glitz. He answered a direct question with a direct answer as opposed to political platitudes and buzz words geared to change the subject. If the question required a simply yes or no answer, he delivered it.  Bishop engaged in simple good old fashioned, shoe leather campaigning.  An honest man with an honest plan. Here he said is who I am, here are my qualifications and here is my plan.  All this in tandem with an understated yet powerful competence that once heard could not be mistaken for anything other than the legitimate call to serve Jacksonville that it is. 

Then this amazing thing happened.  Fed up citizens and voters actually heard Bishop and understood his experience and competence. They realized campaign funds were not a measure of a candidates worth, far from it.  In fact they were growing more and more impressed with this man Bishop who on a shoestring budget was willing to hold up his expertise in the face of millions in campaign dollars and he was making continual headway.  That made him unique and more than unique it made him rare at a time when politicians come a dime a dozen.  With the help of Wayne Wood and many other supporters Bishops base grew and grew and grew as did the excitement behind him that came with the realization that the voter could take their power back and use their vote independently, do their own research and not rely on packaged goods. Voters could take back their city.  The tide fully changed with the several on air interviews and the two televised debates where Bishop shown brightly  in his clarity and understanding of all the problems facing down this city, how legislation works, what a budget means etc,  but also with the revelation that he had a plan to deal with many of our worst ills.  He gave clear insights and answers while Curry and Brown dealt in buzz words and political platitudes as opposed to facts.  The voters were enchanted by Bishops fortitude and honesty.

The next amazing thing is that short polls started rolling in that showed Bishop quickly closing the gap between himself and Curry to the point of breathing down his back.  The gap got even more closed between the two candidates as of the last debate and the energy continued to rise.  Any political candidate knows you have got to close the deal when your are this close to the finish line and Bishop has managed by all accounts to do just that.  With the latest Curry news being a racist tweet by one of his campaign workers viral on media to his lackluster debate performances, lack of pension plan or skin in the local efforts that have grown Jacksonville, people began to decide that Curry was not the man for the job.  Some of his biggest donors have shared their disappointment with other donors and have now become backers of Bill Bishop as have many, many other rank and file voters. Voters that understand that a man whose entire campaign is banking on one segment of Jacksonville voters and those voters being the most far right of the GOP that Curry lacks the non partisan appeal that is needed and desired to make a city like Jacksonville a community that works the same agenda as opposed to meeting the needs of the powerful and special interests. 

So what does tomorrow hold for all of us in Jacksonville?  We will know soon enough and we will also then find out if the polls, the rumors and the hype around any and all candidates has any truth to it.  But I am willing to bet that tomorrow will also come with some surprises in the win and lose column of a number a races, the race for mayor included.

[Jax native]

Wow................. That was a brilliant article and great grip on what i think is happening today.  I will not be surprised with a Brown/ Bishop run off that looked impossible just a month ago.  Thanks for writing this and engaging us in an insight that many people have not seen. 

[Charles Hunter]

Heard two highly visible GOP personages tonight expressing "fear" that Brown will be elected Tuesday - no runoff.

[brainstormer]

I, too, am looking forward to a Brown and Bishop run off. My hope is that the two will stay positive, honest, and engaged in discussion about local issues. Bishop's direct approach will challenge Brown to stand up and be a leader, otherwise, he will lose. Brown will not be able to get away with avoidance if he is in the run off with Bishop. No matter who wins in the end, I think Jacksonville will be better off because of the forced discussions.

[brainstormer]

^^ If that is true Charles, then the GOP deserves it. To try and sell a hand-picked, "good ol' boy" politician to the residents of Jacksonville was foolish and nearsighted. In typical GOP fashion, they banked on citizens not wanting substance in their mayor. Ooops. Maybe we are smarter and more engaged than they thought.

[Cheshire Cat]

In my opinion there is no way Brown gets this with no runoff. No one in this race will get the 50 + 1 needed.  This is down to a race between Curry and Bishop for the second spot.  The GOP folks are finally realizing that Curry is not "the guy" but at the same time refuse to see that Bishop has made some serious inroads in this race.  This will not be over until May 6th, mark my words.    By the way I am sure folks will readily remind me of my words tomorrow.  lol

[Cheshire Cat]

I, too, am looking forward to a Brown and Bishop run off. My hope is that the two will stay positive, honest, and engaged in discussion about local issues. Bishop's direct approach will challenge Brown to stand up and be a leader, otherwise, he will lose. Brown will not be able to get away with avoidance if he is in the run off with Bishop. No matter who wins in the end, I think Jacksonville will be better off because of the forced discussions.

Totally agree. 

[Charles Hunter]

In my opinion there is no way Brown gets this with no runoff. No one in this race will get the 50 + 1 needed.  This is down to a race between Curry and Bishop for the second spot.  The GOP folks are finally realizing that Curry is not "the guy" but at the same time refuse to see that Bishop has made some serious inroads in this race.  This will not be over until May 6th, mark my words.    By the way I am sure folks will readily remind me of my words tomorrow.  lol

The General Election is May 19.
Why so long between elections? Two months?  Lobbying by the folks selling advertising?

[mtraininjax]

Brown has been in Jacksonville for 4 years and proven ineffective, Bishop has been in Jacksonville for 8 years and all he wants to do, when he gets a microphone is blame years of politicians for past mistakes. If I had to choose between Bishop and Brown, I'd take Brown and his lack of balls, because he is not willing to raise taxes. Bishop will tax and tax and tax to a point where you wished you had jumped on the I'm with Alvin crowd.

[vicupstate]

Brown has been in Jacksonville for 4 years and proven ineffective, Bishop has been in Jacksonville for 8 years and all he wants to do, when he gets a microphone is blame years of politicians for past mistakes. If I had to choose between Bishop and Brown, I'd take Brown and his lack of balls, because he is not willing to raise taxes. Bishop will tax and tax and tax to a point where you wished you had jumped on the I'm with Alvin crowd.

Brown didn't support a tax increase in his first term. Did that stop it from happening? Taxes will increase in the next four years, regardless.

[Snaketoz]

Cheshire Cat, I like your insight.  I had Curry pegged from his first misleading, negative ad.  I do hope Bishop is second in this race.  With 2 months until the general election, I fear that if Curry was in a race for all the marbles his political machine may have enough time to make his bogus propaganda stick with the voters.  With a Brown vs Bishop race at least the eventual winner will be better than Mr. Fraud.

[carpnter]

I hope there is a runoff, we do not need 4 more years of Brown bumbling around with no clue. 

[FBT]

Bishop ran a smart campaign, going door-to-door to make his case directly to the people.  His debate performances further enhanced the fact that he's the superior candidate to Curry. 

Curry had the money and the endorsements lined up well in advance because he had the party machine backing him.  When he announced he was running for mayor, it came as no surprise because he's been preparing for this run for years.  The problem is that he really says nothing.  His ads are mostly negative, and when he lays out his "vision" for Jacksonville, there's no substance behind the promises.

Bishop has been an honest broker, and has stayed above the fray as Brown and Curry take their shots at each other.  I cast my ballot for him today knowing fully well that it's really a battle between Bishop and Curry.  Brown won't get the 50+1 he needs to avoid a runoff.  If Curry comes out on top today, it will be a sad day for this city. 

[Cheshire Cat]

In my opinion there is no way Brown gets this with no runoff. No one in this race will get the 50 + 1 needed.  This is down to a race between Curry and Bishop for the second spot.  The GOP folks are finally realizing that Curry is not "the guy" but at the same time refuse to see that Bishop has made some serious inroads in this race.  This will not be over until May 6th, mark my words.    By the way I am sure folks will readily remind me of my words tomorrow.  lol

The General Election is May 19.
Why so long between elections? Two months?  Lobbying by the folks selling advertising?

Thanks for the correction Charles!  Too many numbers and dates in my head!  So May 19th people!

[Cheshire Cat]

Hmmmm, there are apparently complaints rolling in that Curry backers have actually been approaching folks attempting to vote while online and encouraging them to vote a provisional ballot.  Duval elections voter protection hotline for today is: 904-451-5504. If anyone tries to interfere with you while voting, call the number.