A.G. Gancarski
Being a party chair in Duval County is a tough job. Not a day goes by, for example, when this writer doesn’t hear about dissension in the Duval Democratic Executive Committee, including razor sharp criticisms of its chair, Neil Henrichsen. The factions in that party are real, and those on the outside would be shocked by the stories in circulation.
Local political parties tend to attract strong egos. As HD 12 Representative Lake Ray settles into this role on the GOP side, which maintained enough cohesion under Robin Lumb to take control of city government during the just passed election cycle, he is cognizant of a real challenge more than one candidate for party chair earlier this summer voiced: how to broaden the party, as it was in the past.
Ray, when asked during a conversation in his Jacksonville office, said fundraising was going well, as he’s begun the long (and never ending) process of donor outreach. The goal: broadening the donor base, making donations “more regular from a larger number of people.”
To that end, outreach to some of those who expressed interest in the role has been a priority for Ray. The recent chair election presents an opportunity to bring some valuable perspectives to the party, and Ray is reaching out to those who may have “been active for a while, then disappeared,” including previous chairs and the “original REC backbone,” and opponents like Jack Webb, who will become a part of the REC going forward, and old-school Republicans from back in the day, when “being Republican was not a path to electoral success.”
As well, an important resource will be Jerry Holland, a friend of Ray’s from days when they both served on City Council, who has “one of the best political minds” of anyone Ray knows.
Of course, as Ray understands from his time in Tallahassee, fundraising is a perpetual thing, There is pressure, just as soon as one election is over, to gird up for the next. Ray notes that “it can be very difficult to ask” for donations from recent contributors.
Another pressure: the need to balance political roles with those of maintaining a full time job for most.
“What most people don’t see from the outside,” Ray said regarding serving in the House, “is it doesn’t pay very much.”
Essentially, a state legislator’s salary doesn’t offer much beyond basic expenses, and there “aren’t freebees,” Ray added.
Meanwhile, there is pressure, just as soon as one election is over, to gird up for the next. Ray notes that “it can be very difficult to ask” for donations from recent contributors.
Other pressures: thorny issues, and in #jaxpol none are thornier than the expansion of the Human Rights Ordinance.
“I don’t foresee the party taking a position,” Ray said of the Human Rights Ordinance. “Our goal is to get Republicans elected.”
That said, “local clubs may take positions” on the HRO.
Ray notes, as have proponents of the bill, that the Atlantic Beach elections may urge politicians to be more cautious than their campaign rhetoric was on the issue.
In a race where a measure similar to the expanded HRO was “front and center,” he notes that two proponents were defeated.
“What happened in Atlantic Beach was they were asking for the public to weigh in on it,” Ray said.
Ray also found the half-dozen Human Rights Campaign lobbyists operating in Jacksonville, most of whom are not from here, a self-imposed “challenge.”
“I know how I’d feel,” the former City Councilman said regarding being lobbied by outsiders on a local issue, “but everyone’s entitled to hire who they want.”
“All politics are local,” he added regarding bringing national level people in to do local lobbying.
The conversation then turned to what the GOP has to offer the younger generation. Ray believes that a principled message, rooted in “values,” is an appeal.
Young people, such as millennials, recoil at the idea of “big, intrusive government.”
“Most people want to make their own decisions,” Ray said, and he notes that concern for the future is paramount. He wonders if young people are “really happy with the opportunities [they] have” under the current Washington government.
“When they see they may not have” the upward mobility “that previous generations had,” Ray said, they may feel that “the American Dream is shattered.”
The pathway to restoring the American Dream for young people whose path to the middle class increasingly is in doubt is not, Ray says, “intrusive government,” but a smaller government that will facilitate a “path to success.”
What clearly separates Ray from at least one predecessor as party chair is that he’s not going to be prone to certain gaffes that previous leadership became known for. His game clearly is building the party up for 2016, a year of legislative races, but more importantly for most, the Presidential derby.
Duval County leans Republican even as old-school Southern Democrats give the Dems the numerical advantage. There are some who say, despite the dysfunction of the Duval Dems, that the influx of more liberal minded people will give the Democrats a more favorable position going forward. For now, Ray and the Duval GOP are defending a lead. But the outcome of the game is ultimately an open question.
