A.G. Gancarski
There are mystery candidates. And then there is Mark Black, the latest entrant in the state House District 12 GOP demolition derby of a primary to succeed Lake Ray.
He doesn’t have a Facebook page. He doesn’t have a website. Operatives for the other campaigns have never heard of him.
FloridaPolitics.com caught up with Black by telephone Friday, and he described himself as “just a common guy.”
Black brings governmental experience, he says, from DeKalb County, Georgia, where he said was in the “inspections department,” doing “public administration for over 30 years,” including “structural inspection for plumbing and HVAC.”
A résumé on Black jibes with some of that time frame, listing him as plumbing inspector for seven years.
Black, who has done some “consulting” since, would not say who he’s doing “consulting” for. His résumé indicates recent stints as a “team leader” in shops at the Sarasota airport and the Bradenton Pirates’ spring training facility.
Black, when asked why he’s running in a race against three former two-term Jacksonville city councilmen and an assistant to a current councilman, was vague in his answers.
“I didn’t realize there was anybody else in the race,” Black said.
“We’ve got some issues,” he said. “People are just bogged down with the regular, common politicians.”
Black, a newcomer to Jacksonville, observed that politics is “in my blood, in my calling,” and that he’s “tired of political politicians.”
When asked about Ray, the Duval GOP chairman who has held the seat eight years, Black didn’t have much to say.
“I don’t know the gentleman. I reached out to him and the Republican Party, but got no response,” Black said. Although he has “no contact with the guys locally,” he has been to meetings of the “Young Republicans” and “Hispanic Republicans.”
At those conclaves, “Nobody knows who I am. … I just listen, hear what’s going on, and think about it.”
Black is less than fully engaged in the issues of the day, such as the Discretionary Sales Surtax bill that Jacksonville leaders want to pass in Tallahassee this session.
“I haven’t read it, so I’m not prepared to comment,” Black said.
When asked about the HRO bills that were withdrawn locally, as well as the Competitive Workforce Act, Black was likewise noncommittal, saying, “I’ve got to sit down and read some of the passions going on in the state House.”
Rick Scott may not be universally popular in Tallahassee, but Mark Black likes him.
“I think he’s done a pretty good job,” Black said. “He’s for the people. Trying to get us more jobs.”
It will be interesting to see how Black proceeds in the campaign. Are there differences between a state House race and plumbing inspection? Local political watchers are about to find out.
