A.G. Gancarski
Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry has no meaningful opposition for his re-election bid and his first 25 days of fundraising likely will ensure that remains the case for some time.
In less than a month on the re-election trail, Curry raised just more than $1.5 million.
Of that sum, $255,305 went into the campaign account, and $1,246,500 went to his political committee, Jacksonville on the Rise, which is already running television spots.
Curry often talks about the importance of relationships — and what’s clear from a list of donors is that his 2015 supporters are on board for four more years, along with one name who wasn’t a Curry backer in 2015 (Shad Khan).
Just a few of those names that went in for $25,000 or more to the political committee: Tom Petway, Betty Petway, and Ty Petway; current Jaguars owner Shad Khan and former Jags owner Wayne Weaver; Gary Chartrand, John Baker, John Rood, and Aubrey Edge; Peter Rummell (divergence on an assault weapons ban notwithstanding).
In addition to Rummell clearing the $25,000 mark personally, RummellMunz Partners donated another $25,000, and family members donated as well.
JB Coxwell, Suddath Company, Summit Construction, PGA Tour, and bestbet likewise went $25,000 in.
Giving at lesser levels: Florida Blue ($15,000); Marty Fiorentino and the Fiorentino Group ($3,500); Tim and Jessica Baker (and his companies), adding up to $6,000; Southern Strategy Group lobbyists Deno Hicks and Matt Brockelman ($1,000 each).
The bottom line is that Lenny Curry can run an aggressive re-election bid for the next year with as much paid media as he needs. Adding to that: Curry has strong relationships with main anchors on both WJXT (Kent Justice) and Action News Jax (John Bachman), which could help him framing stories, like the current JEA discussion, that may prove difficult for messaging.
Curry’s principal committee for fundraising, we are told, will be Jacksonville on the Rise. He is not actively soliciting funds for his other established committee, Build Something That Lasts.
3 comments
Larry Gillis (Cape Coral)
April 6, 2018 at 9:13 am
“Money is speech”.
OK, I got that part. Money may be speech, but it is not particularly articulate. And, one point five million for someone who has no meaningful opposition is not really speech; it is more of a primal scream.
Florida’s politics has rich primal history, so ya gotta wonder why they are giving this man so much money when he plainly does not need it. As a practicing Libertarian, I full-heartedly support the right to give money to candidates. That being said, I still have to say that this amount under these circumstances is a terrifying thing to contemplate.
Big D Dan
April 6, 2018 at 8:57 pm
He’s a turd.
What’s the hurry Curry
April 8, 2018 at 9:33 am
This man has got to go. He has the whole city in chaos just to further his political agenda. His has motivation behind JEA sale.
He gets the JEA board to resign and put his people (Petway,Howard, etc.) on the board. The same people that donate to his campaign. Then they decide to start the proceedings to sell what they call a great asset. Why?
To further his political career. His lobbyist Love this. Keep them happy and we the citizens will be left holding the bag. I voted for you last term. That was the biggest mistake .I regret every day your in office.
Comments are closed.