A.G. Gancarski
Though the Jacksonville mayoral race is getting the lion’s share of attention locally, a no less important race is going on to succeed outgoing Sheriff John Rutherford. The two remaining candidates, Democrat Ken Jefferson and Republican Mike Williams, have until May 19 to make their cases to Jacksonville voters.
As we reported last week, the first poll of the Jacksonville runoff went the way of the Democrat. Jefferson led Williams by 8 points. Williams, who lost the First Election by 15 points to Jefferson, trails the defeated 2011 Democratic candidate 48.8 percent to 40.6 percent.
I reached out to Williams, who did not discuss the poll directly, but said more generally that “there are eight weeks to go and a lot of campaigning still to be done. Looking forward to it!”
Williams, who like Lenny Curry has been endorsed by Rutherford, had this to say regarding the latest police-involved shooting at Cleveland Arms Apartments. This is the third police-involved shooting in 18 days in Jacksonville.
“All use of potentially deadly force by an officer is investigated,” Williams said. “Officers responding to a call who encounter suspects that resist officers are looked into. As your sheriff, I will challenge every court decision to get those hearings open to the public. Legitimate, expert investigations into these cases occurs now, both by the State Attorney and the Response to Resistance Board. We need to be able to bring stakeholders into a room to witness those proceedings.”
Williams’ opponent, Jefferson, is to address a protest rally outside the complex at 5:30 today. We will be on the scene covering this event. Jefferson has repeatedly talked of a “lost generation” to street violence; Williams has addressed the crime surge in different ways, talking about the restoration of Jacksonville Journey programs and a restoration of officer levels to numbers before Alvin Brown was elected mayor in 2011.
