Jacksonville local races start drawing attention — and dollars

political money (Large)

The first post-qualifying fundraising reports are in for downticket Jacksonville races in the March elections, and some trends are familiar while others are exciting and new.

[Note: coverage of mayoral race fundraising is here.]

The races for Sheriff and Property Appraiser see Republican incumbents Mike Williams and Jerry Holland with daunting leads over Democratic challengers.

Williams has over $360,000 on hand between hard money and his state-level political committee; Democrat Tony Cummings has under $1,700.

Holland has over $145,000 on hand; Democrat Kurt Kraft has just over $250 in the bank.

Despite a Democratic registration advantage, the resource gap is considerable.

The only competitive countywide race for Democrats: the race for tax collector.

Democrat John Crescimbeni exited qualifying day with almost $4,000 on hand, including donations from the Jacksonville Kennel Club and J.B. Coxwell Contracting, traditionally Republican donor bases. Incumbent Republican Jim Overton still holds serve, with $34,000 banked.

The slate of Council races, meanwhile, offered few narrative surprises.

In At Large races, the money war in At Large 1 is still shaking out, with Republican Terrance Freeman leading with just over $2,000 on hand. Expect this to develop, with former Duval Democrats’ chair Lisa King in the race, along with activist Connell Crooms.

AL2 sees Republican Ron Salem (~$167,000) up big against Democrat Darren Mason (~$350).

AL 3 incumbent Currycrat Tommy Hazouri has over $112,000 banked, the former Mayor well ahead in money and name identification against Republican Greg Rachal (~$5,000) and Democrat James Jacobs (~$500).

And in AL 4, Republican Matt Carlucci (~$216,000 on hand) holds a commanding advantage over Harold McCart (~$11,000) and former Councilman Don Redman. As was the case with the Mayor’s race, the Democrats aren’t bothering with a candidate here.

AL 5 Republican incumbent Sam Newby (~$35,000 on hand) likewise is winning the money race against Democrat Chad McIntyre (~$3,000 on hand) and repeat candidate Niki Brunson (~$115)

In Council District 1, Democrat Joyce Morgan with over $22,000 on hand now has doubled the cash-on-hand of Republican challenger Bill Bishop.

In District 2, Republican incumbent Al Ferraro ($45,000 cash-on-hand) has been spending money on advertising already, and holds a lead over Democratic challenger Carson Tranquille (nearly $18,000 COH).

District 4 Republican incumbent Scott Wilson has $22,000 on hand; newly filed Democratic challenger Tim Yost has $300 banked.

In District 6’s battle of Republicans, retired public radio executive Michael Boylan brought in $15,000 ($10,000 self-financed) to close the money gap with Rose Conry. Nonetheless, Conry has nearly $100,000 COH and a 2:1 advantage.

District 7’s Currycrat incumbent Reggie Gaffney continues to lead the money race, with $66,000 on hand. He faces Democratic opponents, including Nahshon Nicks (under $500 COH), Sharise Riley (over $11,000), and Solomon Olopade (who has roughly $47,000 on hand, much of it self-funded).

District 8’s Democratic donnybrook sees appointed incumbent Ju’Coby Pittman amassing fundraising momentum, with almost $25,000 raised since December. She’s in second, behind Tameka Gaines Holly (under $34,000 COH). Suspended incumbent Katrina Brown holds an $8,200 nest egg, with Albert Wilcox and Diallo-Sekou Seabrook farther back.

In District 9, meanwhile, incumbent Garrett Dennis may be looking at more of a challenge from Marcellus Holmes than he might have expected. Dennis had just a few dollars in the bank after qualifying; Holmes has nearly $3,000, including donations from Tom Petway … the former JEA Board member and big-time Lenny Curry donor who floated the idea to privatize the public utility on his way off the board.

District 10 doesn’t have much clarity: Democrat Kevin Monroe is the COH leader, albeit with under $4,300 on hand.

In District 12, Republican David Taylor is self-funding and has most of the $100,000 he put into his campaign available. Taylor is challenging former fire union head Randy White (just over $70,000 on hand), who won a special election last year without opposition; Taylor put forth a legal challenge that the fix was in because the election was improperly noticed, but that challenge was bounced.

District 14 sees Republican Randy DeFoor leading a well-funded field, with nearly $148,000 on hand between her campaign account and political committee. Democrat Sunny Gettinger is also over the $100,000 COH threshold, with Democrat Jimmy Peluso (~$40,000) and Republican Henry Mooneyhan (~$20,000) somewhat farther back.

A.G. Gancarski

A.G. Gancarski has been the Northeast Florida correspondent for Florida Politics since 2014. He writes for the New York Post and National Review also, with previous work in the American Conservative and Washington Times and a 15+ year run as a columnist in Folio Weekly. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter: @AGGancarski



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