A.G. Gancarski
On Thursday afternoon in Springfield, Jodi Williams, the Republican sheriff’s candidate’s wife, was joined by Cindy Graves and what a Mike Williams campaign news release called “women from the community with a shared concern for the future of Jacksonville and our public safety issues.”
The event was short and sweet, but the crowd was enthusiastic: About 100 Republican women showed up.
Williams made the personal appeal.
“Mike told me he would follow in his father’s footsteps” and become a police officer. Jodi Williams, a registered nurse at Wolfson’s Children’s Hospital, had no problem “supporting his dreams like he always supported mine.”
Throughout their 24-year marriage, the sacrifices have been many, including “missed ballgames, birthday parties, and special events” that she had to attend along because her +1 was on a SWAT call.
Still, it was worth it, she said. As a police officer’s wife, she knew her husband was keeping Jacksonville families safe. And now she wants people to know that her husband is a “proven leader with experience” and the “only qualified candidate for sheriff.”
As her remarks concluded, Mike Williams emerged from the side, with a dozen yellow roses for the woman who kept him going when he was making so many sacrifices.
Graves, president of the Florida Federation of Republican Women, got no flowers from Williams, but made points in her unmistakable way. She said, “Women [must be] security conscious in the post 9/11 world” and that the JSO needs a “leader” who “understands the narcotics trade” and who has budget experience.
Graves urged the women on hand to investigate “who we are voting for.”
Mike Williams spoke briefly afterwards, thanking the crowd for showing up and urging them to vote Republican.
The event happened in the wake of the recent St. Pete Poll which shows Williams in a dead heat with Ken Jefferson. The Republican has room to improve with women voters, though: The poll indicates that Jefferson leads with the female demographic. An event like Thursday’s might change that trend and help swing the election toward Williams.
