Alton Yates backs Donna Deegan for Jacksonville Mayor

While most of the narrative has been on the Republican side of the Jacksonville mayoral race, two major Democratic candidates are also running.

Now, the leading fundraiser among the two rolled out an endorsement from a local civil rights legend.

Alton Yates, a retired Colonel in the Air Force was among those attacked on Ax Handle Saturday, a fateful day in 1960 when a group of White racists tried to enforce segregation with brutal force. One of the most tragic days in Jacksonville history, it still serves as a reminder of the Jim Crow approach to government that has held back the city to the present moment.

In his endorsement, Yates singled out Donna Deegan as being singularly able among the candidates in the field to make meaningful progress forward.

“I have known Donna for more than 35 years,” Yates said Thursday. “She is a person who still believes that character counts. She believes also that promises made should and must be kept. She is committed to making good on broken promises of the past. She will be a mayor for all of us in Jacksonville. Donna is competent, capable, and worthy of our support. I urge you to join me and let’s elect Donna for Mayor.”

Deegan, a former newscaster who survived multiple recurrences of breast cancer to start a foundation to help others dealing with that dread disease, welcomed and contextualized the endorsement in her own statement.

“Alton has long been a personal hero of mine and a true civil rights legend. I’m proud to have his endorsement in our campaign for change. He and I share the belief that we need to make good on the broken promises of Jacksonville’s past and create a city that works for all of us. His support is a testament to our commitment to bringing everyone to the table in City Hall,” Deegan asserted.

Deegan had roughly $650,000 on hand as of the most recent reports filed, which include political committee receipts and expenditures through the end of the year and campaign account reports through Jan. 27.

That is more than three times what the other Democrat in the field, former Sen. Audrey Gibson, reported through the end of January in her political committee account and campaign account combined. But it falls far short of the leading fundraiser overall, Republican Daniel Davis, who has $3 million on hand even after spending $1.1 million in January, with that money programmed primarily against another Republican, LeAnna Gutierrez Cumber.

While the March 21 “First Election” pits all candidates against each other, with the top two advancing to the May 16 General Election, most observers expect one Democrat and one Republican to emerge. Deegan’s campaign contends that it has “outperformed her opponents in the last four public polls and is the clear frontrunner in the mayoral race,” though a necessary caveat is that there has not been a fresh poll since Davis and Cumber began spending their millions of dollars.