Alvin Brown now at $1.9 million in campaign contributions

On the heels of Lenny Curry’s announcement that he’s passed the $2 million mark in campaign contributions, Jacksonville Mayor Alvin Brown is announcing he’s edging very close to the same figure.

Brown Deputy Campaign Manager Fabien Levy says the mayor’s re-elect effort has now raised a total of $1,903,370.

January donations directly to Brown’s campaign totaled $34,026, according to figures released by his campaign. Taking Jacksonville to the Next Level, a political committee supporting Brown, took in $124,350 for the month, bringing the January total to $158,376.

“We currently have over $1.3 million cash on hand,” said Levy. “Our team is in a very strong position, and the level of grassroots support from donors across the city is tremendous.”

Meanwhile, Levy dismissed a new mailer sponsored by the Curry PAC as divisive.

The mailpiece refers to Brown as “Democrat” multiple times – seen as a pejorative in some North Florida precincts – and accuses Brown of “secret backroom deals” and violating the state’s Sunshine Law.

The detailed mailer references multiple published accounts in the Florida Times-Union criticizing the Brown administration as reporters pushed for information and documents related to city government activities. The Times-Union in 2013 sued the Brown administration and the city’s Police and Fire Pension Fund board, accusing them of violating the Sunshine Law by conducting collective bargaining negotiations in private meetings.

Levy pushed back.

“Mayor Brown has always put Jacksonville first, and this is just another example of the partisan politics Lenny Curry would bring to Jacksonville if elected,” responded Levy. “While party boss Curry served as a political attack dog and put politics first, Mayor Brown was making the city’s ethics office more independent and creating the Public Accountability Office to make the city government more transparent. In his four years in office, Mayor Brown did what he said would do — he cut his own pay by 20 percent, cut wasteful spending, and saved Jacksonville voters millions of dollars.”