A.G. Gancarski
Jacksonville Republican Ron Salem has never served on the Jacksonville City Council. Yet he has attended recent meetings on pension reform and the opioid crisis — showing the kind of real interest and engagement that separate him from other candidates, both those who have declared and those teasing a run.
Also demonstrating interest and engagement: Salem’s March fundraising.
Salem, thus far the sole declared candidate to replace termed-out John Crescimbeni in the 2019 race in AL-2, had a second straight month over $25,000.
March brought in $26,800, after a February haul of $30,800, which brings his two month haul to a tidy $57,600.
Not bad for a deeply-connected local Republican, who is two years out from the election.
Salem, a client of Tim Baker and Brian Hughes, is following the tried-and-true template of warning other candidates out of the race with strong fundraising out of the gate.
Among the donors whose names readers will know are the following:
Kerri Stewart, Chief of Staff for Mayor Lenny Curry, gave $150. Michael Munz and Audrey Moran went in $250 deep.
Bob Shircliff, Lindsey Brock, Nick Mousa, Gary Chartrand, Darnell Smith, and Demetree Enterprises, all gave $1,000 — the maximum contribution.
While Bill Bishop has been linked to this race, Hughes and Baker would love a second shot at him after how the mayor’s race went in 2015, with Bishop endorsing Curry’s opponent after his own loss in the March “first election.”
Salem looks well on his way to having the capital needed for any race — positive or negative — he needs to run.
