Tommy Hazouri talks Lenny Curry, Donald Trump, and pension tax push to Dems

For the first time since an October rally at the Jacksonville Landing, GOP Presidential nominee Donald Trump will be in Jacksonville, this time at 7 p.m. at the Veterans’ Memorial Arena.

Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry will be there, his office confirms.

However, when FloridaPolitics.com asked Curry’s office questions related to Trump’s contretemps with Khizr Khan and whether there was any worry that an appearance with Trump would impact the bipartisan marketing effort of County Referendum 1, spokeswoman Marsha Oliver said she had “no commentary or additional information to offer.”

Curry’s team realizes the importance of Democrats to pushing the referendum through. Despite a recent 4,600 voter surge in Republican registration related to closed primaries in the state attorney and public defender races, Democrats still outnumber Republicans by 17,000.

With that in mind, prominent Democrats have been enlisted to help push the “Yes for Jacksonville” referendum.

Former Jacksonville City Councilwoman and lifelong Democrat Denise Lee took a leave from the Curry administration to help with grassroots outreach for the referendum.

And former Democratic Mayor Tommy Hazouri, a current councilman, is helping with the finance side of “Yes for Jacksonville.”

When asked Tuesday morning his thoughts on Curry appearing with Trump, Hazouri noted Curry was the “head of the state party,” adding, “I don’t expect anything less. It’s his party, he can cry if he wants to,” Hazouri said, channeling the spirit of 1960s chanteuse Lesley Gore.

“The party hierarchy would expect it of Curry,” Hazouri said, though Hazouri is “surprised” Curry would co-appear with Trump ahead of County Referendum 1.

Former mayor Alvin Brown received criticism from Democrats for being mysteriously absent when President Barack Obama was in town. Hazouri recognizes a Republican mayor is duty bound to appear with a presidential nominee, however controversial, from his own party.

“There’s no exit,” Hazouri said, channeling Jean-Paul Sartre. “It’s Hobson’s Choice.”

If the Democratic nominee had come to town when Hazouri was mayor, he added, he would have appeared with him at a rally as the “titular head of the party.”

Hazouri speculated that, by appearing with Trump, “maybe Curry is trying to woo Republicans” toward supporting the referendum.

However, Hazouri added, “it doesn’t do much for Democrats.”

When asked if Trump was consistent with the administration mantra — One City, One Jacksonville — Hazouri said “absolutely not.”

“The more I watch Trump, the more I scratch my head trying to figure out how he got through 16 competent people” in the primaries. “I daresay I can’t believe a lot of things that Trump is saying,” Hazouri added.

Hazouri believes Trump is a default preference of Curry in the presidential election, noting that “there’s a big difference between Marco Rubio, Jeb Bush, and Trump.”

Meanwhile, Democratic ally of the administration Councilman Garrett Dennis — along with Chief of Staff Kerri Stewart and Community Affairs Director Charles Moreland — will speak to the Jacksonville Young Democrats on the pension tax referendum Wednesday evening while the mayor is at the arena with Trump.

That event will be a litmus test of how much Curry’s decision to appear with Trump ahead of the referendum will affect Dems’ feelings on it.