A.G. Gancarski
After a morning of what has been described as spirited internal discussion, the Alvin Brown has reversed course and accepted the debate invitation of Action News Jax to debate Lenny Curry Wednesday night,
Informed sources said the Brown camp’s decision was fueled by a belief that Brown is a better debater than Curry and would benefit from a shared forum. The two-party debate will preempt the Lenny Curry “one-man show“ reported earlier in Florida Politics.
Brown is taking part to “defend Jacksonville citizens from Lenny Curry’s lies,” according to the media release, which contends Curry has “spent months diminishing the accomplishments of Jacksonville’s citizens” and that the mayor will “defend constituents by taking Curry’s lies head-on and in person.”
The prepared statement sees the mayor going on offense against his Republican challenger.
“It’s been the greatest privilege of my professional life to serve as Jacksonville’s mayor and see it grow into one of the premier cities in the country,” Brown said. “But it’s incredibly disappointing that my opponent doesn’t feel the same way about Jacksonville. Over the months, and especially over the last several weeks, Lenny Curry has done nothing but criticize Jacksonville, told lies about who we are and what we’ve accomplishment [sic], and sought to diminish our incredible growth of the last four years.
“Being mayor is about governing. But being mayor is also about taking pride in your city and believing in its citizens. If your mayor can’t be the voice of support and optimism for Jacksonville, who can? Tonight and over the next two weeks, I am going to make it clear to Lenny Curry that Jacksonville is not just a good city, but a great one. Based on the way he has diminished the progress of our city and people during this campaign, he’s not qualified to be our mayor.”
On behalf of the Curry campaign, Brian Hughes offered a prepared statement that accuses the mayor of mudslinging of his own.
“Lenny Curry has been clear and consistent about public forums with both candidates; ‘anywhere and anytime.’ Too often Alvin Brown has demonstrated he’s not interested in a public conversation so we are welcome him finally showing the voters some respect. As to the content tonight, Lenny Curry doesn’t need a lesson from mudslinger Alvin Brown about Jacksonville’s greatness. The biggest impediment to a bright future in the city is Alvin Brown. He continues to tell Jacksonville it’s not facing a crime problem but just last night — hours after law enforcement and pastors joined together to rally against the violence — 2 people were critically wounded after 3 shootings. What did Alvin Brown do yesterday? He wrote a resolution about seismic testing and re-released a year-old letter to Obama bureaucrats.”
The debate starts at 7 p.m.
