A.G. Gancarski
Running a few minutes late, as happens to someone with a schedule as crowded as the mayor’s, Alvin Brown and his family arrived to vote at an Arlington precinct Tuesday morning under a slate-gray sky. After emerging from the polling place, Brown spoke briefly to local media.
For the most part, Brown’s remarks were consistent with his messaging, as he discussed his “clear vision” and hope to “get many voters out today” to vote, saying “we can end it today.” The impression was bolstered by the advantage Democrats had in Early Voting, which wrapped up Sunday.
We were able to get one question to the mayor: had he reached out to Bill Bishop for support in the runoff? The former Jacksonville City Council president, a maverick Republican polling in double digits, is widely considered to be the X Factor in the current race.
Brown told us he “can’t think about the runoff,” though he has “reached out to Bill Bishop already” to thank him for running a positive campaign.
According to his spokesman, Fabien Levy, he was not able to get Bishop on the telephone, but left a message.
Ebullient, Brown closed his remarks with “Go Jags!” In case anyone has forgotten that Jaguars owner Shahid Khan is a supporter, he reminded Jacksonville voters “Shad and I are gonna be working together four more years.”
Polls close at 7 p.m. in Jacksonville. I’ll join my colleague, Melissa Ross, on WJCT-FM starting at 7 tonight, with on-the-spot analysis of the mayoral race, as well as the sheriff race, the Supervisor of Elections contest, and the 19 city council races that hang in the balance.
