Second Jacksonville Democrat qualifies for CD 5 primary against Al Lawson
Back again: LJ Holloway looks for a 2022 rematch with Rep. Al Lawson

16665080_405860206429035_4238972443822485223_o
Two candidate vying for Jacksonville vote; incumbent is from Tallahassee.

Efforts by some Jacksonville Democrats to reclaim Corrine Brown’s former congressional seat were made more complicated Friday.

The state Division of Elections initially ruled that a second Jacksonville Democrat, LaShonda Holloway, is ineligible due to failure to timely submit her check.

But the Second Judicial Circuit sided with Holloway, saying that the “pandemic was an extraordinary circumstance” that precluded her finding out that her check was improperly notated until it was too late for her to submit a check to cure the defect. The dropbox used to submit election paperwork, as she noted in May, was not appropriately monitored, and she should have been given more time.

Holloway provided a check at 9 a.m. on the last day of qualifying, but a discrepancy between the numeric and written portion of the check was rejected shortly after 10 a.m.

The candidate described the qualification as a “huge victory for everyone who has ever been disenfranchised by the establishment.”

Ironically, a source of her frustration was the geographic disconnect in the sprawling east/west district that straddles I-10 from Jacksonville to Tallahassee.

Holloway uses the Jacksonville-based VyStar Credit Union, whose nearest location is in Perry. Despite her best efforts, she says she couldn’t get the check to them until 1:21 p.m.

Holloway’s absence meant (briefly) there is only one Jacksonville Democrat running against incumbent Rep. Al Lawson, and that’s Albert Chester. Two Republicans, Gary Adler and Roger Wagoner, are running in the other primary.

Both Holloway and Albert Chester will need some strong fundraising to overcome incumbent Lawson’s head start. The incumbent has over $200,000 on hand, five times the cash on hand of Chester. Holloway has yet to file her campaign finance report with the Federal Elections Commission.

Qualifying for the primary helps Holloway, of course. But the ultimate beneficiary could be Lawson, who will be strong in areas west of Jacksonville’s 295 beltway and will dominate Tallahassee even as Chester and Holloway compete for the Jacksonville vote.

Lawson, elected in 2016 after defeating an indicted Corrine Brown in the Democratic primary, faced a serious primary challenge in 2018: former Jacksonville Mayor Alvin Brown, despite running a strong campaign, could not get traction outside of Jacksonville and lost by double digits.

The Holloway decision is the second time a court bucked a candidate’s disqualification in this cycle. In CD 7, Republican Yukong Zhao likewise was permitted to be on the ballot, despite an initial block from the Division of Elections.

A.G. Gancarski

A.G. Gancarski has written for FloridaPolitics.com since 2014. He is based in Northeast Florida. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter: @AGGancarski


2 comments

  • Pretty

    June 15, 2020 at 12:02 pm

    Why she keep wasting her money…

    • Drew Park

      June 15, 2020 at 12:51 pm

      “…Holloway provided a check at 9 a.m. on the last day of qualifying, but a discrepancy between the numeric and written portion of the check was rejected…”
      She cannot write a check properly yet she thinks she is qualified for Congress.

Comments are closed.


#FlaPol

Florida Politics is a statewide, new media platform covering campaigns, elections, government, policy, and lobbying in Florida. This platform and all of its content are owned by Extensive Enterprises Media.

Publisher: Peter Schorsch @PeterSchorschFL

Contributors & reporters: Phil Ammann, Drew Dixon, Roseanne Dunkelberger, A.G. Gancarski, Anne Geggis, Ryan Nicol, Jacob Ogles, Cole Pepper, Gray Rohrer, Jesse Scheckner, Christine Sexton, Drew Wilson, and Mike Wright.

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @PeterSchorschFL
Phone: (727) 642-3162
Address: 204 37th Avenue North #182
St. Petersburg, Florida 33704




Sign up for Sunburn


Categories