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A.G. GancarskiDecember 28, 2016

Subpoenas with a side of sauce. That’s one way to sum up the year. In Jacksonville politics, 2016 started with subpoenas being delivered to Rep. Corrine Brown and her clique at a barbecue place on the Northside. And it ended with a raid on Councilwoman Katrina Brown’s familial barbecue sauce plant on the Westside. Katrina […]

A.G. GancarskiDecember 27, 2016

When 2016 kicked off, the world was different, and our political prognoses reflected those false assurances. We didn’t imagine President Donald Trump on a national level. We figured Hillary Clinton would end up taking on Jeb Bush or Marco Rubio in the general election. And we expected the rhetoric would sound like the previous two or three campaigns. Regarding #jaxpol, we had a pretty good […]

Staff ReportsDecember 23, 2016

Democratic Congressman-elect Al Lawson named Tola Thompson, longtime director and assistant vice president of Florida A&M University’s government relations, to be his chief of staff. Lawson, who will represent Florida’s 5th Congressional District, announced the hire this week. Thompson is a Tallahassee native and FAMU graduate. “I will miss the incredible people I have had the […]

A.G. GancarskiDecember 19, 2016

Friday saw an official meeting between Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry and former Mayor Alvin Brown. And with that meeting, a message to #jaxpol: the bitterness of the 2015 election was finally consigned to memory. The picture above: worth a thousand words. Acrimony expunged, replaced by bonhomie. The campaign for Jacksonville mayor was the most expensive local campaign […]

A.G. GancarskiDecember 16, 2016

As an indication of the predictive power of our Rising Stars series, look no further than Vincent Evans. The Florida A&M alum has been a mainstay of state and local government in Tallahassee. Now the (former) aide to Tallahassee City Commissioner Curtis Richardson has announced his next move. And it’s to the next level. In his May […]

A.G. GancarskiDecember 14, 2016

On Wednesday, Congressman-elect John Rutherford addressed Jacksonville’s Southside Business Men’s Club at their weekly meeting. Well before the program began, Rutherford was talking to club members like old friends. And people at tables were swapping Rutherford stories. Not a surprise, given the former Jacksonville Sheriff’s deep roots in the community, and fourteen years in the club. One […]

Jim RosicaDecember 8, 2016

The push to draft Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum to run for governor has picked up two more supporters. Mayor Lauren Poe of Gainesville and Mayor Eric Jones of West Park hopped on the bandwagon Thursday. Gillum, a 37-year-old Democrat, has been the capital’s mayor since 2014. He first was a city commissioner, the youngest person ever […]

A.G. GancarskiNovember 9, 2016

The election of President-elect Donald Trump offers a unique opportunity for the city of Jacksonville, the biggest city in the country with a GOP mayor. In written responses to questions regarding the election, Mayor Lenny Curry expressed confidence his support of Trump as a candidate would help to position Jacksonville favorably going forward Curry, who served as […]

A.G. GancarskiNovember 8, 2016

Northeast Florida will have a completely new Congressional delegation in January, as the Associated Press has called the races in its two districts, and both were won by candidates looking to bridge the partisan divide. As widely expected, Republican John Rutherford downed Democrat David Bruderly in the 4th Congressional District: 280,319 to 110,257 (70 percent to 28 percent) […]

A.G. GancarskiNovember 8, 2016

Election Night brings the opportunity for celebration for at least one candidate in every race. Northeast Florida candidates are no exception, with parties planned. Congressional District 4 Republican candidate John Rutherford will return to the place where he celebrated his primary victory in August: the Hyatt Regency Jacksonville Riverfront. While the scene won’t be as chaotic […]

Tag: Al Lawson
Image via AP.

Subpoenas with a side of sauce: The 10 biggest #JaxPol stories of 2016

A.G. Gancarski surveys the wreckage of his 2016 predictions

Personnel note: Al Lawson names Tola Thompson chief of staff

Reading the tea leaves of the Lenny Curry-Alvin Brown meeting

‘Rising star’ Vincent Evans will head to Washington D.C. with Al Lawson

In homecoming speech, John Rutherford addresses Jacksonville business club

Andrew Gillum is “real deal” for governor, supporters say

Lenny Curry expresses ‘strong support’ for President-Elect Donald Trump

New bipartisan era begins for Jacksonville in U.S. Congress

Where’s the party? NE Florida candidates slate Election Night fetes