A.G. Gancarski
It is official: Lenny Curry won the Mayoral Straw Poll at the First Coast Tea Party Hob Nob going away, thus raising more questions about the viability of Bill Bishop, the other Republican in the race.
The numbers we are hearing: Curry got 61%, Bill Bishop just 21%, and Alvin Brown and Omega Allen got 13% and 5% respectively.
Bishop’s showing was especially disappointing, as he was the only one of the four candidates who showed up personally to talk to voters. Curry was the only other candidate who had a booth at the event, which was manned by volunteers. Curry was campaigning elsewhere in Jacksonville today, as he has prioritized reaching new voters throughout town on Saturdays, campaigning door to door with his engaged and active street team.
For Bishop, this showing raises existential questions for his campaign, as this repudiation from the activist right is yet another setback for the candidate, who went on WJCT‘s First Coast Connect this week (hosted by this site’s Melissa Ross) and downplayed Florida’s solar energy capacity as “quite low”, only to find his stance refuted in a “fact check” by reporter Jessica Palombo.
Bishop will be campaigning in Memorial Park in Riverside tomorrow, in an attempt to energize support among progressives and young person in Jacksonville’s Urban Core neighborhoods. He has no plans to get out of the race, and confirmed rumors to this writer that opposition research had been conducted into his architectural firm’s dealings with the city since 1997 by a rival campaign.
The Bishop rally organizer, local activist Wayne Wood, called on Bishop supporters to bike to tomorrow’s rally, urging residents of “San Marco, Riverside, Springfield, Downtown, Avondale, Brooklyn, Fairfax, Ortega, and Murray Hill — please ride your bikes! Organize a bicycle convoy. Make this an eco-friendly and healthy tribute to our candidate for Mayor who truly supports efficient transportation, our parks, the environment, the St. Johns River, and quality of life in Jacksonville.”
There were decidedly few bicycles parked outside the Tea Party Hob Nob event, for what it’s worth.
Though the room was largely GOP, there were Democratic campaign operations in attendance, including Supervisor of Elections candidate Tracie Davis’ team, as well as Sheriff candidates Ken Jefferson and Tony Cummings.
Duval Democrats, meanwhile, framed the results as unfavorable to Curry. James Poindexter claimed that in “a gathering of Tea Party Republicans, nearly 40% voted against Curry with 13% supporting Democratic Mayor Alvin Brown. Republican voters recognize Alvin Brown’s bipartisan record of supporting business and opportunity for Jacksonville and Curry’s partisan record of rhetoric and inaction.”
It should be stressed that the room was majority Republican, but there were some Independents and Democrats who may have voted in the poll.
This post will be updated as more results and information comes in today.
