Peter Schorsch
The Duval County Republican Party continues its game of musical chairs even during the holidays, giving Democratic partisans the gift of comedy gold this week when Rick Hartley, whose term as Duval County GOP Chairman ended in ignominious scandal, filed with the Duval County Supervisor of Elections office to run for SOE.
This move comes on the wake of weeks of scandal related to former party Secretary Kim Crenier’s fusillade of Tweets — all but one on her private account — related to the Ferguson verdict and the riots in its wake. Posting on both her personal account and an official handle of the Duval County Republican Party, Crenier Tweeted: “Ferguson, MO. No true bill! May God bless and protect Officer Darren Wilson and his family. Facts are facts”.
Her private account had more incendiary comments, including repeated pejoratives about President Barack Obama and this unfortunate suggestion re: crowd control, which was compared to infamous segregationist Bull Connor by commentators earlier this year: “A suggestion for Ferguson — fire hoses. Grt big fire hoses, serious water pressure. Knock those thugs over. They probly need a shower anyway.”
When contacted by this reporter, Crenier said that the civil rights era implications of such a suggestion “never even entered my head.”
Hartley handled the imbroglio almost as poorly as possible.
At first, he denied knowing who had Tweeted the offending sentiments. Then he said that she was too “emotional” to face questions from the media. After fielding calls for resignation of Crenier and himself, he refused to resign. Finally, he and Crenier stood down for re-election earlier this month, with Hartley falling in behind Councilman Robin Lumb — Lenny Curry’s choice to replace him as local party chair.
Lumb is a declared candidate for SOE, with the biggest war chest, and yet, with a seeming diffidence about getting elected. A few weeks ago, he offered, without prompting, to step aside and let Mike Hogan run for Supervisor of Elections in his stead.
It is unknown whether Lumb will follow through with his run, but it’s clear that the Duval County Republicans see the SOE gig as the consolation prize in local politics. Despite internal differences, including stinging private rebukes of Hartley by some of the most powerful men in the Duval GOP, it appears that the party people are protecting their own.
The Supervisor of Elections position has been refreshingly free of partisan politics since the embarrassment of the 2000 election. These developments undoubtedly make local Democrats wonder about whether the office’s nonpartisanship will continue.
Hartley will be running with a lot of baggage beyond the Ferguson flap. He made news earlier this year when he referred to Mayor Alvin Brown as “thuggish”, initially doubling down on the comment before recanting, saying that “I’ve been told that thuggish is a racial slur.”
