Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

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 […]

A.G. GancarskiDecember 19, 2016

New Clay County Sheriff-elect Darryl Daniels is still assembling his “dream team” of “subject matter experts.” Worth noting: some of these stalwarts will be coming in from other counties, not unlike the sheriff himself, whose quarter-century of law enforcement experience is from Duval County. As with Daniels’ legal counsel, State Attorney Angela Corey, many of these experts […]

A.G. GancarskiDecember 15, 2016

4th Circuit State Attorney Elect Melissa Nelson delivered a keynote graduation address on Thursday morning in Jacksonville at the Year Up Jacksonville graduation ceremony. Nelson, swept into office on a reform platform after eight years of Angela Corey, framed the event going in as a prelude to “collaborating with Year Up to explore how the program can serve as […]

A.G. GancarskiDecember 13, 2016

The worst kept secret in #jaxpol is a secret no more. 4th Circuit State Attorney Angela Corey will serve as “general counsel” for the incoming Clay County Sheriff, Darryl Daniels, according to a press release from the sheriff-elect. “Ms. Corey is the subject matter expert when it comes to the application of the law and conveying that […]

A.G. GancarskiNovember 16, 2016

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As Melissa Nelson prepares to become 4th Circuit State Attorney in January, her administration is taking shape. Two Chief Assistant State Attorneys, Mac D. Heavener III and L.E. “Leh” Hutton, were announced on Wednesday. Both Heavener and Hutton worked at the SAO previously. Heavener currently is deputy chief of the U.S. Attorney Office in Jacksonville, while Hutton […]

A.G. GancarskiSeptember 29, 2016

Fourth Circuit State Attorney-elect Melissa Nelson scored a resounding victory over incumbent Angela Corey in the GOP primary at the end of August. Though she has no general election opposition, Nelson’s political committee, “First Coast Values”, continues to raise and spend copiously. Since the end of August, “First Coast Values” has raised, in total, $138,800. First […]

A.G. GancarskiSeptember 12, 2016

Fourth Circuit State Attorney-elect Melissa Nelson isn’t a natural politician. The paradox, however, is that she won her GOP primary race against incumbent Angela Corey by the kind of margin just about any career politician would envy. As a result, perhaps, of those unique dynamics in the primary, every time Nelson appears in public she is […]

A.G. GancarskiAugust 31, 2016

The northeast Florida primaries have been in the books for almost 24 hours at this writing. A review of the winners — and the losers — goes beyond the election returns to look at what happened to create these outcomes that will, in historical retrospect, seem inevitable. Winners Lenny Curry — The chattering classes told him he couldn’t get […]

A.G. GancarskiAugust 30, 2016

Duval, Clay, and Nassau Counties will see a new state attorney and a new public defender in January, as two polarizing incumbents were swept out of office, with resounding defeats in contentious primaries. In the most expensive GOP primary race for state attorney ever in this region, challenger Melissa Nelson — with a war chest of […]

A.G. GancarskiAugust 29, 2016

Here’s what we know about the primary in Duval County, as of the close of Early Voting on Sunday. Turnout, thus far, is at 14.14 percent. Of the Democrats, 33,210 of 230,529 — or 14.6 percent — have voted. Meanwhile, of the 215,025 Republicans registered, 40,423 — or 18.8 percent — have voted. Of the 120,124 NPA voters, 6,470 […]

Tag: Angela Corey

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

New Clay undersheriff is a Duval County transplant

In graduation speech, Melissa Nelson recounts her own struggle as a candidate

Angela Corey to serve as Clay Sheriff’s general counsel

4th Circuit State Attorney-elect Melissa Nelson announces leadership team

Melissa Nelson PC raises and spends six-figure sums in September

Melissa Nelson vows to ‘do the right thing’ as 4th circuit state attorney

A rundown of the winners and losers from northeast Florida’s primary elections

Melissa Nelson, Charles Cofer win primaries; the Angela Corey/Matt Shirk era ends

New Republicans could be the x-factor in Duval County primaries