A.G. Gancarski
The Jacksonville race for sheriff between Ken Jefferson and Mike Williams is heating up. Word is that third-place finisher Jimmy Holderfield is endorsing Jefferson on Thursday afternoon during an 2 p.m. event Jefferson’s campaign is billing a “major announcement” and a “gamechanger [of an] endorsement.”
If true, this race will only get hotter.
The announcement is scheduled to happen at Cleveland Arms Apartment Complex, the scene of a police-involved shooting on Sunday and daily protests since. However, the event has been moved to Memorial Park in Riverside, for reasons no one is saying.
We’ve contacted Jefferson and Holderfield for confirmation or refutation of expectations, but no response has been tendered. The Jefferson campaign did confirm that an “endorsement” is the centerpiece of the event.
Jefferson finished in first place in March 24 First Election, leading Williams 37-22 percent, with Holderfield coming in 2 points behind Williams. It was a closely contested race that gained interest at the end. That was, in part, because of allegations that Holderfield gave preferential treatment to people arrested in the Allied Veterans sting.
The race became more interesting afterward when Holderfield held off on endorsing his fellow Republican, Williams. A recent poll of the sheriff’s race, commissioned by Florida Politics, had Jefferson up by 8 points, buoyed by superior name recognition. A Holderfield endorsement of Jefferson could make a considerable difference in this ever-tightening contest.
Lonnie McDonald, meanwhile, has endorsed Williams. There are strong indications that another defeated Republican, Jay Farhat, will endorse Williams in the coming days.
We will be on the scene for the announcement in Memorial Park in Riverside and report it as soon as the event ends.
