A.G. Gancarski
As expected, the Duval County Republican Party elected two new officers on Monday night, while moving closer to clarity in the eventful race for Party Chair.
Alexander Pantinakis replaced Lenny Curry as committeeman, while Mellanease Clark replaced Bill Spann as secretary.
In a sign of his esteem within the state party, within minutes after being elected by acclamation, the youngest GOP committeeman in state history was congratulated, via Twitter, by RPOF Chair Blaise Ingoglia and by Brian Hughes.
Clark, meanwhile, posted to Facebook: “Overwhelming support tonight with me being an unknown candidate. Really humbled and ecstatic to serve our city as the secretary of DREC!”
Meanwhile, the race for party chair lost one strong candidate: Property Appraiser Jerry Holland.
As he told Florida Politics on Monday evening, he announced at the REC meeting that he was supporting Rep. Lake Ray for the chairmanship. Ray is running against Acting Chair Karyn Morton and former councilman Jack Webb. That race will be decided in August.
