A.G. Gancarski
Another day, another issue for Jacksonville City Councilman Reggie Gaffney as he attempts to build a campaign website for his re-election bid.
Wednesday saw Gaffney list Jacksonville City Hall as campaign headquarters, and his office phone as the campaign phone number, contravening municipal code prohibiting the use of city property for campaigning.
By Thursday morning, that issue was corrected. Gaffney and his council aide admitted it was an error.
There was no address listed for the campaign at all; the phone number (240) 650-4113 was a Google voice number, with no identifying information that it was a campaign asset.
However, there was yet another issue: a lack of a campaign disclaimer at the bottom of the site, such as “Political advertisement paid for and approved by Reggie Gaffney, Democrat, for Jacksonville City Council.”
The site calls for a donation; however, there is no disclaimer, either there at the bottom or top of the site.
Guidance from Florida’s Department of State is unambiguous: “The disclaimer must read: ‘Paid electioneering communication paid for by (name and address of person paying for the communication)’ (Section 106.1439, F.S.)”
“Any political advertisement that is paid for by a candidate (except a write-in candidate) and that is published, displayed, or circulated before, or on the day of, any election must prominently state: ‘Political advertisement paid for and approved by (name of candidate), (party affiliation) for (office sought)’ or ‘Paid by (name of candidate), (party affiliation), for (office sought)’.”
Florida Politics reached out to Gaffney for comment on the omission.
Facing five opponents, Gaffney hasn’t brought in a lot of money for his re-election bid. However, the $17,000+ he brought in has come from local power brokers, such as Rep. Travis Cummings‘ political committee.
Gaffney, a reliable vote on all of Mayor Lenny Curry‘s priorities, may need some help with campaign mechanics from connected friends who understand how to avoid basic mistakes.
