A.G. Gancarski
The sole competitive race for the state House in the Jacksonville area is the House District 13 battle.
Democrat Tracie Davis was selected by acclamation of the Duval Democratic Executive Committee on Tuesday, replacing Reggie Fullwood, who resigned from the Legislature and abandoned his re-election race after pleading guilty on two federal counts in late September.
Republican Mark Griffin got the nomination in a more conventional way.
Despite the change in opponents, his strategy continues.
Griffin closed September with his best fundraising period since launching his primary campaign in late May.
He raised $6,350 between Sept. 17 and Sept. 30, bringing Griffin’s total take to $31,771, which he augmented with a $10,000 personal loan earlier in the campaign.
Of that new money, $6,200 came from individual contributors in Jacksonville and Ponte Vedra.
During the same period, Griffin spent $3,599, leaving him roughly $33,000 on hand.
Notable: $2,750 of Griffin’s spend was on polling via Harper Polling.
Griffin’s campaign strategy when running against Fullwood was to take the high road, offering prayers and such for the former officeholder in public statements.
Against Davis — whose supporters have already used a #TrustTracie hashtag — it will be interesting to see how the pastor, who lives outside HD 13 in the Hidden Hills community, messages against a candidate who has unanimous support among the Duval Democratic Executive Committee as she runs in a heavily Democratic area.
Davis filed and qualified earlier this week.
While her new campaign account has no entries, her old campaign account — from her primary campaign where she finished second to Fullwood — had about $18,000 in it.
