Hans Tanzler III exploring CD 4 GOP run

Hans Tanzler III, the son of the mayor pictured, is running in CD 4.

Hans Tanzler III, son of the first post-Consolidation mayor (pictured above), former CEO of the St. Johns River Water Management District, and former CFO of the Haskell Company, is “actively considering” a run in Congressional District 4, he told FloridaPolitics.com Friday.

Tanzler’s Jacksonville roots run deep. As a third-generation Jacksonville resident with a legacy on both his mother’s and father’s sides, Tanzler sees himself as a “businessman and tax lawyer” who wants “to be able to make a difference in D.C.”

Tanzler noted that his experience with corporate turnarounds would be helpful in making his economic case.

“It’s important that Americans feel comfortable investing,” Tanzler said, and growing the GDP is essential to that.

He believes his knowledge of the tax code and the intricacies of international currency give him the background other candidates lack.

“I’m concerned about fiscal responsibility,” Tanzler said, adding that keeping spending and debt in line would be key to his message.

“Our generation,” Tanzler said, “it’s in our lap not to hand [a huge debt] over to our children.

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It’s hard to talk about Tanzler without mentioning his history in the Bold New City of the South.

“I grew up in Jacksonville, I love the river, I went to high school here, and my grandfather was the first neurosurgeon in Jacksonville,” Tanzler said, adding that he used to work in the shipyards, often on boats stationed here in the military.

Despite his roots, “in no way do I feel I inherited the right to be the incumbent,” Tanzler said.

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On the subject of the military, Tanzler notes that his “draft number never got called,” but he was an ROTC member and has “friends in the military.”

“We’ve got to keep Jacksonville’s military presence intact,” Tanzler said, adding that a strong GDP drives a “strong military” before sounding a warning.

“As the flames of capitalism start to dim, the military diminishes, and our basic freedoms are at risk.”

“I’m a strong military guy,” Tanzler said.

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The conversation soon enough turned to Donald Trump, at this point the favorite to be GOP nominee.

“If Trump is the CEO,” Tanzler said, “he is a pragmatist that can do a good job.”

“As a successful businessman, he must have skills that can be of use,” regarding government “deliverables.”

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The expected frontrunner in the race, former Jacksonville Sheriff John Rutherford, would obviously have to be dispatched. If Tanzler were to run, he believes his unique value add is an “outsider perspective” with “experience in the private sector” and an “ability to create jobs.”

While Rutherford was a “very good sheriff,” Tanzler asserts that he’s not an outsider and would not be able to bring that perspective.

And Tanzler believes that Rutherford, as a candidate, should have his “lifetime and career examined,” which plays into certain consultant assertions that it would be possible to go negative on Rutherford’s record of managing the JSO.

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Tanzler addressed local issues during our 25 minute call, including the proposed 1/2 cent sales tax referendum that would share the August primary ballot with him, were he to run.

“The pension situation is a great concern,” Tanzler said, and “Mayor Curry, as a CPA, is in the solutions business.”

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Tanzler knows that to run, he’s in a race against time.

“I would only have four months,” he said regarding making his case.

Though “anybody who knows me will support me,” he recognizes that name recognition is a hurdle.

He tells his friends: “don’t commit too early.”

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There is, of course, meaningful resistance to the coronation of Rutherford.

An anonymous GOP heavyweight email, which didn’t mention Rutherford by name, fretted that there hadn’t been a candidate emerge who could fill the Tillie Fowler/Charles Bennett role.

Meanwhile, in announcing he wasn’t running, State Rep. Jay Fant did not endorse Rutherford, saying that he was interested in finding the right candidate.

Could Fant be on Team Tanzler, given that both are from old Jacksonville families?

“Conceivably,” said Tanzler. “I know Jay and his dad. We have people in common. Jay’s very conservative and an up-and-coming guy.”

“There could be a synergy.”

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Can Tanzler get the money he needs? The ground game? If he can get the resources to “lay out the facts,” he’s in.

He will decide in the next week.