A.G. GancarskiOn a humid Tuesday afternoon in Jacksonville at the Baseball Grounds, Republican Rob Schoonover formally endorsed Democratic Sheriff’s candidate Ken Jefferson. Schoonover finished sixth in March’s First Election. Mark Kerrin, who opened a campaign account but did not actually run, also appeared.
Along with Jimmy Holderfield, who endorsed Jefferson last week, the joint appearance of the four created the impression that Jefferson has marshaled serious support within the JSO as an agent of change and an alternative to Mike Williams, the Republican candidate.
There were similarities between the event and the high-profile Holderfield endorsement last week. One such similarity was the high-profile public venue. Another such similarity: Dozens of uniformed police officers came out to lend support. A third similarity: There was a lot of similar language used by Schoonover and Holderfield in their apostasies from the Republican Party.
Similarly to Holderfield, Schoonover said that “serving as your next sheriff was a dream I had sincerely hoped to realize. Unfortunately, it did not happen for me,” he said, before thanking his voters and saying he was “overwhelmed at the 142,385 who voted against the establishment and recognized the need for change.”
In this era of JSO glasnost, it is interesting and instructive to hear candidates talking this way. In saying this, Schoonover essentially made the case that Williams is the candidate of the John Rutherford establishment, and that this election is a referendum on the Rutherford era. The balance of his remarks positioned his decision to reach across party lines because Jefferson was a potential agent for “change.”
Jefferson’s remarks, meanwhile, can be properly understood as crystallizing his campaign’s argument that he has significant Republican support.
“I am truly honored to stand before you today with Rob and Jimmy, both Republicans, who have crossed party lines to demonstrate this race is not about partisanship, it is about what is best for Jacksonville,” Jefferson said.
In answering the rhetorical question “Do endorsements really matter?”, Jefferson issued an emphatic yes.
“These endorsements matter, and I’ll tell you why,” Jefferson said. “They could have endorsed the establishment Republican and protected their own political interests to later run for city council or some other office.” Or, as they ended up doing, they could “dare to cross party lines and endorse a Democrat for sheriff.”
The endorsement events of the past week for the Jefferson campaign have had remarkable message unity, and offer a rhetorical bridge for ambivalent Republicans likewise to “dare to reach across party lines.” Even as the Republican endorsements pile up, though, questions have been raised, including one that hasn’t gone away.
Has Jefferson made promises in exchange for these endorsements? There has been speculation that Holderfield was promised the undersheriff role. Though Jefferson addressed such questions five days ago, I asked him again. And again he was emphatic in his denial of a quid pro quo.
“I can assure you that I have not made any promises to anybody. No one has been promised anything,” Jefferson thundered.
Then, bringing the focus of the event back to the political coup of endorsements by two Republican opponents in five days, Jefferson reiterated the afternoon’s theme.
“Endorsements do matter,” he said. “For me to stand here and be flanked [by these men], it means a hell of a lot to me.”
