A.G. Gancarski
The House District 17 campaign of Republican Jessica Baker can claim a “sweep” of first responder endorsements.
The Florida Police Benevolent Association was the latest group to back Baker, a current Assistant State Attorney in the 7th Judicial Circuit, in a Primary for a new House seat in Southern Duval County.
The union joins the Jacksonville Association of Fire Fighters and the Fraternal Order of Police, groups that endorsed Baker before.
First responder unions have broken the way of the Jacksonville Republican establishment in recent years, with this endorsement providing the latest example of that trend ahead of Baker’s August Primary against political newcomer Christina Meredith.
“We are proud to endorse,” the letter reads. “She demonstrates a strong commitment to law enforcement, corrections, and probation.”
“We know she has our back,” the endorsement adds.
Baker has a commanding resource advantage in the HD 17 race, which covers a territory that includes the University of North Florida. As of the end of June, she had nearly $400,000 remaining between her campaign account and her Friends of Jessica Baker political committee.
Meredith launched her HD 17 campaign in May and has not been able to match. At the end of June, she had on hand roughly $75,000 between her Fostering American Leadership political committee and her campaign account.
She raised just over $7,000 last month, with recent donors including arch-social conservative political consultant Raymond Johnson and Marlo Zarka, who is currently the campaign manager for the Democratic sheriff campaign of LaKesha Burton.
This Primary likely will be decisive in terms of who goes to Tallahassee. HD 17’s GOP winner will face Democrat Michael Anderson in November in a district that favored both Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis in recent elections.
