Lenny Curry leads swath of Jax endorsements for Aaron Bean CD 4 bid

A group of Jacksonville leaders, including Mayor Lenny Curry and a pair of current and former Sheriffs, have added their names to a series of endorsements rolled out by Aaron Bean’s congressional campaign Tuesday.

Bean, a Fernandina Beach Republican currently serving in the state Senate, continues to consolidate supports from most electorally successful wings of the Florida Republican Party. He began the week with an endorsement from U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, who is on the ballot in August against nominal Primary competition.

State Reps. Wyman Duggan and Clay Yarborough, the latter of whom is running for Bean’s Senate seat this year, backed Bean in his latest wave of endorsements. So did Curry, current Jacksonville Sheriff Pat Ivey and former Sheriff Mike Williams, who now lives near Bean in Nassau County.

Public Defender Charlie Cofer, Duval County Clerk of Courts Jody Phillips, Duval Property Appraiser Jerry Holland and former state Reps. Lake Ray and Jay Fant also gave their support.

This rollout sees people on opposite sides of many other local campaigns united behind Bean, the sole candidate with a political record in the Primary for the new seat connecting parts of Duval with Clay and Nassau counties. They join a long list of officials backing Bean, including the sheriffs of Clay and Nassau counties and nearly two dozen current and former elected officials from Nassau County.

“I am so grateful for these leaders who have joined the Bean Team and have endorsed me in my bid for Congressional District 4,” Bean said. “Our campaign continues to receive endorsements throughout the district, signaling that our community wants principled, conservative leadership in Washington, and they are ready for Republicans to take back Congress.

He added, “We will continue to speak to the voters and ask them what they want from their next Congressman from Congressional District 4 and thank everyone for their continued support. Onward to victory in the Primary.”

Bean is taking on Republican Primary opponents Erick Aguilar, who originally filed to run in the GOP Primary in the old CD 4 against U.S. Rep. John Rutherford, and health insurance contract analyst Jon Chuba.

Though the district is expected to perform Republican in the fall, former state Sen. Tony Hill and previous congressional candidate LaShonda Holloway are both actively campaigning for the Democratic nomination.