A.G. Gancarski
The Lenny Curry and Alvin Brown campaigns have both made concerted plays for Jacksonville voters to cast votes by mail, and we are seeing a surge in votes from Republicans and Democrats alike.
As of 8:30 Thursday morning, 4,799 absentee ballots were cast. The break is still toward the Republicans, but a more even split is emerging between the two major parties. Slightly fewer than half, 2,356, of all votes by mail so far were cast by Republicans. Democrats cast 1,768, and 675 by voters with no party affiliation.
Tuesday was a big day for votes by mail received, with 3,329 arriving. On Wednesday, 954 absentee ballots were processed.
One potential driver for votes by mail that’s under the radar, but may be working in the Democrats’ favor: Former mayor, and current council candidate, Tommy Hazouri has taken trips to senior centers in the past couple of weeks. His campaign visits one most every day, and that may be a low-key but effective driver. Hazouri has described the importance of reaching out to seniors during the vote-by-mail period to this writer on numerous occasions.
