As Jack Webb mulls run, Duval REC chairman election pushed to August

One of the livelier stories of the #jaxpol week has been the ongoing saga of the REC chairman position.

The week started with Property Appraiser Jerry Holland entering the race. Not long thereafter, a few insider types made the case that Holland’s candidacy was no sure thing. Holland then responded to the anonymous critics, some of whom were saying that he would be out of the race as quickly as he got in.

Meanwhile, other candidates emerged. Elected Vice Chairwoman and current Acting Chairwoman Karyn Morton confirmed that she is pursuing the chair. Meanwhile, former City Councilman Jack Webb confirmed exclusively to Florida Politics that he is testing the waters for a run.

“I’m talking to people. I talked to Karyn this morning,” Webb said Thursday afternoon. “She’s a very dedicated person. The conversation gave her an opportunity to see that I’m not an interloper,” Webb said, stressing that he has been involved in a meaningful way with the local party for more than a decade.

It was a “great conversation,” Webb said, because it gave her an opportunity to see that “we’re all on the same team.”

Though Webb is not officially running yet (he termed it a “fluid situation”), if he were a candidate, his appeal would be based on “regrowing the brand,” an effort that would include voter registration drives and other forms of outreach.

“My skill set is well suited for bringing people in and raising money,” Webb added, saying that he would offer “experienced leadership,” forged in both the community and the party, including the REC and the River City Republican Club. As well, he has a “vibrant, aggressive personality” and a “unique perspective” on party issues.

Running, Webb added, would not be about “ego.”

Bringing people in is especially important to him; after all, he, along with “a whole lot of people dropped out of the REC” in recent years.

Webb mentioned that among those who dropped out, there was a “growing disaffection with politics in general.”

“The REC was not a fun place to be,” Webb said of the REC not too long ago. It was “negative and angry,” and did not accord with the glory days of Tom Slade, Don Brewer, and Mike Hightower.

There was an “inherently negative” messaging, Webb said, that didn’t align with his values as a self-described positive and non-angry “Bill Buckley conservative.”

Despite his qualms about presentation, Webb said, he does line up with Tea Party types on the “size and the role of the federal government.”

Asked about his re-election loss to Matt Schellenberg in 2011, Webb said, “I got blamed for raising taxes and the Tea Party went after me.”

That said, regarding the tax rate hike he presided over as city council president, the council “had to do what we had to do.” This was doubly true, he said, because he chaired the Finance Committee, which of course approved the property tax increase.

“I would not vote against the budget,” Webb said, calling that action “morally wrong.”

“I know I did the right thing.”

Moving closer to the present tense, when asked about his take on Robin Lumb, the departed REC Chair who now serves as the policy director for Lenny Curry, Webb said, “I think Robin’s great,” describing his presence as party chair as a “glass of cool water for a thirsty man in the desert.”

Describing Lumb as a “good friend,” Webb would want to “build on the positive energy currently coming out” of the REC.

Speaking of positive energy, Webb was generous in his praise for his other declared opponent, Holland.

“I’ve got a lot of respect for Jerry,” Webb said, describing himself as a “little less political” than Holland.

“Jerry is very well-suited to the task” of being REC Chair.

The only issue? Holland’s “role as a constitutional officer,” which Webb sees as a “potential conflict.”

Whether Webb is running or not has yet to be decided; he expects to make a decision “next week.”

“I will be showing up at the REC on Monday,” the former councilman said, and he is asking his “friends, colleagues, and supporters to show up as well.”

The significance of that? Joining the REC is much simpler than it used to be.

Time was when REC members had to be elected on an actual ballot by voters in their precinct in the primary before the presidential election. The process now is more straightforward. An aspirant member can file paperwork with the supervisor of elections, walk into the building, get voted in, and then immediately become an active member.

That would, in theory, make it possible for a candidate such as Webb, drawing on support of lapsed REC members, to bring in new blood in time for the vote … which has been pushed back to August.

The party has, as of now, 60 days to fill the vacancy left by Lumb’s departure. With that in mind, the decision was made to push back the election and make the process fair for all candidates.

What this means is that there might be a lot of new faces at the Salem Centre for Monday night’s REC meeting. And those new faces may be the deciding factor in the election for chairman next month.

Though the election for party chairman has been pushed back, the votes for committeeman and secretary will proceed as scheduled.