Guest AuthorFourth Judicial Circuit State Attorney candidate, Nassau County Republican Wesley Forrest White, has a steep hill to climb if he hopes to knock off current and perhaps perpetual State Attorney Angela Corey.
Corey started fundraising at the beginning of June. July numbers are not yet available, but that first month found her breaching the $125,000 mark.
Wes White? He raised nothing in June, which is rarely a good sign. All told, he’s at $13,550.
It’s hard out there for an intraparty challenger. Especially when, as White told me, defense lawyers and others are scared to give him money because they don’t want to cross Corey.
White’s trying, of course, but the money isn’t coming in. His biggest month was less that $6,000. And though you get a certain amount of “earned media” by running against Corey, who would be the first to tell you that she has been a lightning rod for media criticism, it’s hard to compete with the reality that she’s as entrenched in Jacksonville as potholes in the roads.
White made news late in July with a press conference outside the Duval County Courthouse, calling for immediate investigation into the backlog of untested rape kits.
“It is appalling that the rape test kits have been sitting on a shelf untested for months, years, and in some cases, decades,” said White, who added that the oldest kit dates back to 1984.
“This is a travesty and I am calling on State Attorney Angela Corey to immediately send these kits to the FDLE for processing.”
Action on that front has been gradual. White made the argument that Corey could have used the money she assured for her pension to make a dent in the rape kit backlog. And indeed, one could say that. The problem is one of how engaged the media actually is.
As one reporter said to the gaggle, before White’s media event: “We’ve got bigger fish to fry.”
What this means, in the context of earned media: The next big thing is going to have to be even bigger.
There’s very little that’s bigger than untested rape kits.
White has personal reasons for running against Corey. Perhaps that clouds his judgement. White worked under Corey as Nassau County’s top prosecutor. It ended acrimoniously. In his resignation email in 2012, White claimed that Corey treated Nassau as an “unwanted stepchild.”
Perhaps he should pick an easier race to enter.
One such option: the District 4 Public Defender race. Right now there are no filed candidates for it.
The “beleaguered” incumbent, Matt Shirk, has found his credibility questioned. A grand jury late last year called for his removal from office.
“The Grand Jury does not believe that simply waiting for the next election cycle in 2016 or allowing political processes to intervene adequately addresses the immediate needs of the community. To allow Shirk to remain in office for one more day than is absolutely necessary, exposes citizens of this community to unnecessary financial and legal risk,” read the report.
Luckily for him, Rick Scott didn’t take that bait.
Shirk may file and run again; he’s been quiet on the subject. His major opponent, Mike Weinstein, has retracted his filing to be chief financial officer of Jacksonville.
Not sure whether Wes White is looking for free advice, but if it were me, I’d take my chances against a damaged goods DA instead of squaring off against the Iron Lady of North Florida politics. The question is, for White, a simple one: Is he interested in serving the people, or in settling a score against an old political enemy?
A.G. Gancarski is the Northeast Florida correspondent for FloridaPolitics.com. Column courtesy of Context Florida.
