A.G. Gancarski
Seeking to augment his campaign’s recent strong performance in a St. Pete Polls opinion poll, the Lenny Curry Campaign has sent out a mailpiece to Republican voters designed to demonstrate how the Republican mayoral candidate intends to deliver “better leadership for a better Jacksonville,” well ahead of the March 24 mayoral election.
It does this in a couple of ways. First, by stating high-level biographical talking points: Small Business Owner; Fiscal Conservative; Our Next Mayor. Secondly, by offering Curry’s “Pillars of Leadership for Jacksonville,” which include the following:
- Expanding Economic Opportunity for every family in Jacksonville
- Ensuring Public Safety by working with law enforcement and community leaders
- Getting Our Kids a Great Education by being a partner with education leaders as a champion for Jacksonville families
- Reclaiming our City’s Greatness by celebrating our neighborhoods and connecting them to a growing, vibrant downtown.
One flap of the mailpiece sums up his bona fides:
- Fiscally Conservative
- Won’t Take a Taxpayer Funded Pension
- Work to Keep Our Communities Safe
- Support Our Schools
- Promote Our Neighborhoods
- Keep Downtown Strong!
This last point is bold and italicized, stressing the importance of downtown development to his messaging, and deftly differentiating his campaign from the 2011 effort of Mike Hogan, whose 2011 campaign featured an attack ad against downtown development, which included the riposte: “Tired of politicians wasting thousands of dollars on overpriced projects downtown? Alvin Brown wants to spend even more.”
The inside of the mailpiece, meanwhile, reminds registered Republicans of Curry’s already established messaging, discussing how the “fiscally conservative” candidate “loves this community” and has “worked so hard to improve Jacksonville over the last twenty years” by having “started businesses here” and having “worked alongside Rick Scott to bring more jobs to our city”.
It also reminds voters of Curry’s biography. “Raised in Florida and graduated from UF… CPA in Jacksonville for over 20 years… Proud husband to Molly and father to Boyd, Brooke, and Bridget… Attends Southside United Methodist Church.”
It also amplifies points made on the front cover. “Lenny thinks no elected official should take a taxpayer-funded pension,” the piece claims. “Lenny will work with Governor Scott to bring even more great-paying jobs to our city by investing in JAXPORT and downtown,” it continues. As well, the mailpiece claims that Lenny recognizes the need for both a “thriving downtown” and “affordable and safe neighborhoods for all to call home.”
“If you’re tired of politics as usual in City Hall, it’s time for better leadership,” the argument concludes, leading into a mailing list sign-up form that serves as an informal survey of voter attitudes.
It asks the question, “which of the following issues are the most important to you and your family.” offering eight choices:
- Job Opportunities
- Family Values
- Public Safety
- Fiscal Responsibility
- Education
- Attention to Neighborhood Needs
- Downtown Development
- Solving the City Pension Crisis
One should expect some combination of these themes to feature prominently in campaign messaging. And perhaps some others. The card poses the narrative question: “In 2015, what would you like to see done differently in Jacksonville?” Undoubtedly, the responses from that will bring up even more themes for campaign promotional materials.
This mailpiece is well-timed, a direct appeal to Republican voters as Bill Bishop’s campaign languishes south of 9 percent in our poll, a number that jibes with those heard from this reporter related to internal research for another mayoral campaign. It also stresses the themes of fiscal conservatism while soft-pedaling social conservative tropes, a move that should help augment Curry’s advantage with female respondents in the aforementioned St. Pete Poll.
The release of this mailpiece coincides with an end-of-month email fundraising appeal, in which Team Curry signals its desire to raise “$10,000 over the next three days,” in an effort to finish January strong. The email has a running theme, with references to his participation in last weekend’s Duckpond Dash with his wife Molly.
