A.G. Gancarski
There hasn’t been a lot of intentional humor in the Jacksonville municipal elections this time around. Party people from both sides, augmented by resources and talent from out of town, hit each other and the candidates with a cacophony of calumnies. Soon enough, it will all be over and everyone involved will be drinking craft beers together again.
Before it’s all over, before the count and the recount, the concession speeches and the blame games commence, it’s worthwhile to take a look at the single most creative campaign gimmick of this cycle. It’s the Where’s Ferraro? project done on behalf of District 2 Democrat Lisa King by a local PAC, the Northeast Florida Committee for Responsible Government.
Probably the most memorable gimmick has been a fifteen-second video mocking “No Show Al Ferraro” for not showing up at forums, or answering critical questions about issues germane to the district. The spot ends with Ferraro, dressed as “Waldo,” squeaking “Here I am!”
The campaign has another gimmick: leaving a cardboard cutout of Ferraro at a landmark in District 2 to be found by a voter, who then receives a “Where’s Ferraro?” T-shirt.
Will this be enough to carry King to victory in a GOP district? That’s an open question. King has run one of the smartest campaigns of any candidate out there this cycle, but it may not be enough in a heavily Republican district that has just one reliably Democratic precinct.
John Daigle, the mastermind behind this campaign, had this to say:
