A.G. Gancarski
Christian Whitfield, a Republican whose last run for elected office resulted in a 34-percentage-point loss to state Rep. Kim Daniels in 2016, is launching a bid for Jacksonville City Council.
Whitfield is running in At-Large Group 1, a citywide position now held by former Jacksonville City Council President Anna Brosche.
Brosche was at odds with Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry on several issues before her presidency wrapped last month. She is mulling a run for mayor.
“It’s a very big decision. It’s not something to be taken lightly. And I tell people from time to time I’m a recovering overthinker, and that’s where we are,” Brosche said, noting a “different vision and different style of leadership” would suit the Mayor’s office.
Whitfield’s entry ensures that whether Brosche runs against Curry or for reelection, her path to elected office in 2019 will force her to go through a Republican who is better liked by party activists than her.
It’s worth remembering that in February, the chair of the Duval Republicans savaged Brosche for not acting in an “honorable fashion” when she refused to allow Curry to speak at a meeting Brosche thought was a pretext to push for a quick sale of JEA, the publicly owned local utility.
The relationship between Brosche and the Duval Republican Party has been rocky for years.
When Brosche ran for Council in 2015 against DINO Daniels, many local Republican Executive Committee members asserted that they would prefer it if Daniels won, arguing that Brosche’s willingness to support LGBT rights was a deal-breaker.
While Chairwoman Morton supported Brosche in her 2017 election to the Council presidency, Brosche noted that backing was likely only because she was running against a Democrat.
Whitfield notes that he “did not speak with the Mayor or his team prior to filing and … was not approached or encouraged to run by anyone associated with the mayor or his office.”
For her part, Brosche welcomed Whitfield to the race: “I applaud Mr. Whitfield on filing to run for at-large group 1; having competitive races strengthens our democracy.”
The question of which competitive race awaits Brosche is central to Jacksonville’s 2019 landscape.
