A.G. Gancarski
On Monday, Audrey Gibson won a narrow 8-7 vote of Senate Democrats to become Senate Democratic Leader-Designate for the 2018-2020 legislative sessions.
Gibson will succeed current leader Oscar Braynon II when his term ends next November.
Now, the question: what will Gibson’s victory mean for the Senate, and for her home region?
Questions were raised by some observers about a “progressive vs. moderate” split in the vote results.
Gibson told us, via text Wednesday morning, that the theory was bunk.
“The descriptions of a philosophy vote split are false and secondly we are moving forward together. Watch us work!”
Gibson has also discussed wanting to bring more Democrats into the Senate, asserting that “strategies to elect more Dems to the Senate start with identified opportunities and candidate recruitment while fundraising.”
We also asked Gibson about what her victory, in conjunction with Fleming Island Republican Rob Bradley becoming Appropriations Chair, means for Northeast Florida.
Will the region finally achieve appropriations parity, an issue Bradley and Gibson have each identified separately?
“Equal footing comparatively speaking is definitely a goal,” Gibson asserted, “however, in one Session it may be a bit lofty.”
