A.G. Gancarski
The Jacksonville election takes place in less than two weeks, and one trend that has emerged is infighting between the Duval Democratic Party and African-American Democrats, who have salient criticisms of how party business is conducted.
Exhibit A: Denise Lee‘s critique of the latest doorknocker from the Alvin Brown campaign escaped official comment from the Brown campaign. Unofficially though, leading Duval County Democrats have made their criticisms known, via my Facebook page (because it’s 2015).
One such criticism, from Duval County Democratic Chairman Neil Henrichsen, implies that Lee doesn’t understand the real history lesson provided by the doorknocker.
“Let’s deal with the fact that Lenny Curry was Florida Republican Party chair endorsing and supporting the 2011 election law changes that a federal court in Washington DC determined violated the Voting Rights Act, and the US District Court in Tallahassee found unlawful, ie, voter suppression. This is the same election law change that created long lines in Florida during the 2012 presidential election. The Republican led state government was forced to revise,” Henrichsen wrote in response to Lee’s critique on Friday evening.
That’s a prominent argument made by the Brown campaign and the surrogates; I told Henrichsen that narrative is out there. He agreed with that, then wrote that “[h]owever, it is unfortunate that the Councilwoman plays the political game on such a serious issue.”
I suggested he reach out to her and ask her why she has gone out of her way to decry these two ads as race-baiting. He replied that Lee does not “speak with or participate in Duval Dem party for years.”
Asked what caused the rift, he has yet to respond. Saturday morning, Lee had her own view on the communication gap between herself, an active Democrat since the age of 18, and the local party chairman.
Henrichsen “has never talked to me in my life,” she said, drawing a contrast between him and former local and state party chair Terrie Brady, who enlisted Lee for political outreach throughout the state, including field operations, running phone banks, and coordinating campaigns.
“If this man walked to where I was right now,” Lee said, “I couldn’t tell you what he looks like.”
She contended the party played favorites in terms of which elected officials they would call to lend support to prominent candidates, saying there are “certain Democrats they would deal with.” When Charlie Crist was campaigning, the local Democratic Party “never called me to introduce Crist” and “only tapped certain people” for that task and others.
“The only time they called me was when Ray Alford called to invite me for the opening of the headquarters at Gateway,” which she sees as a problematic location because it is “not centrally located” nor is it “convenient for everybody.”
Contradicting Henrichsen’s assertion that she is not an active Democrat, Lee describes herself as a “big-time activist” and that her mother was a “strong Democrat.”
“I was a Democrat before they were one. I paid my dues and their dues both. I’m a loyalist,” she said.
“I’m surprised this man Neil would say something like that,” given that “he has never reached out to me.”
“Ain’t nobody elected Neil What’s-His-Name to nothing. I’ve been elected. I am African-American; he isn’t. I understand the culture; he doesn’t. You know he’s not telling the truth. Nobody elected him to nothing. He’s never been to a committee meeting in my district,” Lee said.
“The nerve of him to project something on me; that’s not true leadership. If he had you-know-what, he’d call me.”
Lee’s criticisms of Henrichsen are just part of the package: They extend to the party structure at large.
“It seems to me there are only certain Democratic elected officials they want to engage. Maybe they have decided to blackball people. Maybe this is why I was not invited when top national candidates running for office” came through town.
Regarding the current sticking point (Lee’s opposition to what she sees as “race-baiting” radio ads and literature disseminated by the Brown campaign), Lee stands by her position.
“This Democrat has an opinion. A right to an opinion. I’m not owned by any one person,” she said. “I have taken a position about ads targeted to people of color that I feel are inappropriate.”
“My comments have been germane to advertisements. I represent people and that needs to be understood. When I see things that are divisive, I’m going to say something. I’m trying to recruit people [into the party], not run them away.”
Lee’s issues with U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown and her Quick Picks have been documented throughout this campaign. Another veteran African-American Democrat who has gone rogue of late: former City Councilman Johnny Gaffney, who endorsed Lenny Curry for mayor and has been beside him at campaign appearances in recent days.
Gaffney stepped down from his post as District 7 Councilman months ago to run against Reggie Fullwood for the State House. He was unsuccessful, and now the seat is vacant, as Johnny Gaffney ‘s brother Reggie Gaffney is running against George Spencer for the vacant seat.
Some have theorized that Johnny Gaffney’s endorsement of Curry has been motivated by the Quick Picks endorsement of Spencer over his brother, who is said to have seem Corrine as a mother figure.
One of the tropes of Spencer’s advertising was that he is the “true Democrat” in the race, a reference to Johnny Gaffney’s fairly recent switch to the Democratic Party. Asked for comment on the Johnny Gaffney’s Curry endorsement, he replied via text message:
“The Gaffneys’ support of Republican Lenny Curry does not in any way affect my campaign. I have laid out a clear vision on how to move District 7 forward and have always maintained I am the ‘Real Democrat’ in this race. Their endorsement shows that they don’t share our values and beliefs for the people of district 7.”
Lee hasn’t changed parties nor endorsed in the mayoral race. Neither has Johnny Gaffney switched parties. But more than one Democrat has speculated that their moves against party discipline and orthodoxy were driven by desires for jobs in the Curry administration.
That speculation, ironically enough, is a symptom of a larger problem that goes beyond two veterans making moves. Just as in the GOP, where some of the old guard (Matt Carlucci and Alberta Hipps) joined Councilmen Bill Bishop, Stephen Joost, and Ray Holt in bucking the party lines and backing Alvin Brown, it’s clear that party identification is negotiable in at least some cases.
It has long been clear that there are fissures in the local Democratic Party. What we are seeing in the waning days of the 2015 campaign are those disagreements becoming public record. When veteran African-American Democrats lend a hand to a Republican candidate for mayor against an incumbent, there clearly are issues with cohesion that will have to be addressed sooner than later.
