A.G. Gancarski
The JAX Chamber’s JAXBIZ arm hosted a fundraiser as August began for the political committee of Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry.
And if there was any doubt who the Chamber would support in the 2019 Mayoral race, that doubt should have eroded like so much beachfront during a hurricane.
Curry’s “Build Something That Lasts” committee raised over $100,000 at the event, hosted by Darnell Smith, Denise Wallace, Mike Hightower, and the JAXBIZ board of directors.
A name not on the invite that delivered what one insider called a “big effort” was that of Daniel Davis, the Jax Chamber President who one very easily can see as Curry’s eventual replacement in 2023.
Davis, a former state Representative and City Councilman, tweeted out the following: “Looks like JAX Chamber wants to see Mayor @LennyCurry re-elected.”
Indeed it does.
Curry’s committee continues the momentum one would expect from a popular incumbent.
July saw Curry’s committee raise $52.5K, and disperse $19,647 — including $5,000 to “Seamless Florida,” the committee of St. Petersburg Republican Mayoral candidate Rick Baker.
The big donor: Jaguars owner Shad Khan, who ponied up $25K.
There was no invoicing of the trip that Curry took on Khan’s private jet for an economic development trip last week to Baltimore, St. Louis, and Kansas City.
That trip explored, among other concepts, development ideas for future development of the area around Jacksonville’s football stadium and other athletic facilities.
