Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

A.G. GancarskiApril 28, 2016

JAXBIZ, the non-partisan political arm of the JAX Chamber, issued its long-awaited endorsements in Northeast Florida’s state legislative races. Though there is overlap with the Northeast Florida Association of Realtors slate of endorsements, there also is some divergence, allowing myriad candidates headed into some of the more competitive primaries to boast major industry backing. The House endorsements include […]

A.G. GancarskiApril 27, 2016

The Players Championship, a Jacksonville sports tradition since 1974, starts May 10 in Ponte Vedra’s Sawgrass resort. On Wednesday, the Jax Chamber provided a well-timed reminder of its economic impact on the Jacksonville area. The estimate for this year’s impact on the five-county Northeast Florida area: $151 million, from 191,000 attendees. And beyond the tangible […]

A.G. GancarskiMarch 3, 2016

“Project Omega,” a 450-job QTI deal approved by Jacksonville’s City Council weeks ago, was announced as a major expansion by Ernst and Young on Thursday. It wasn’t a sure thing. In fact, Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry says that Project Omega almost didn’t happen. “This deal looked like it was dying on the vine,” Curry told a crowd […]

Melissa RossJanuary 29, 2016

The Coast Guard and the JAX Chamber have announced a new partnership promoting safety measures around the use and transport of liquefied natural gas or LNG in Jacksonville. The region has become a hub for LNG activity in recent years, particularly in North Florida’s thriving maritime industry. In a statement, Chamber CEO Daniel Davis said […]

A.G. GancarskiJanuary 26, 2016

The JAX Chamber of Commerce board of directors in a prepared statement Tuesday “reaffirmed its 1992 Declaration of Community Values and urged the Jacksonville City Council to pass an all-inclusive ordinance to ensure everyone in our community has equal protection against discrimination.” “The Chamber has a long history of leading on issues of equality in […]

A.G. GancarskiJanuary 25, 2016

As of Sunday night, Rules Chairman Matt Schellenberg had three meetings scheduled Monday to engage support for his Jax City Council VP bid. Anna Brosche was his first. Schellenberg, a second term Republican representing Mandarin and Beauclerc, had introduced at-large candidate Brosche to voters in his Mandarin district last year during the campaign, as he did Sam Newby, […]

A.G. GancarskiDecember 15, 2015

Ahead of the final Jacksonville HRO “Community Conversation.” the Jacksonville Coalition for Equality held a press conference spotlighting business community support for a fully inclusive HRO. Over 274 names long, and growing. The names: not surprising. Steve Halverson of the Haskell Co., an HRO supporter the first time around. Audrey Moran, the former mayoral candidate […]

A.G. GancarskiDecember 10, 2015

On Wednesday evening, former Jacksonville mayoral candidate and current Jax Chamber Chairwoman-elect Audrey Moran, at Intuition Ale Works in North Riverside, made the case for expansion of the Human Rights Ordinance. Moran, who has been unstinting in this case for years, spoke at a Jacksonville Coalition for Equality “Happy Hour” event, opening her remarks with […]

A.G. GancarskiDecember 7, 2015

Could the recent Jax Chamber Leadership trip lead to a Better Jacksonville Plan part 2, modeled after the Oklahoma City vision? Or will the pension crisis preclude such an ambitious vision? On Monday, Council Member and JAX USA Senior VP Aaron Bowman, Council President Greg Anderson, and Council Member Anna Lopez Brosche, along with Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry […]

A.G. GancarskiDecember 2, 2015

Where Florida Begins. The Bold New City of the South. The Florida You’ve Always Wanted. The last few decades in Jacksonville have been a graveyard of aspirational slogans and taglines, with one commonality: a lack of real resonance beyond the region, and a hard callous of skepticism among locals. truJAX, a partnership between the Jacksonville […]

JAXBIZ rolls out first wave of 2016 endorsements

Why this year’s Players Championship will be bigger and better than ever

How Lenny Curry kept “Project Omega” from “dying on the vine”

Email insights: Coast Guard, JAX Chamber team up on gas safety

Jax Chamber backs all-inclusive HRO

Jax Council VP candidate Matt Schellenberg questions Aaron Bowman’s independence from Chamber

Jacksonville Coalition for Equality makes its business case for HRO

Audrey Moran issues Jax HRO “call to action”

Jax Mayor, Council members talk OKC Chamber trip, PFPF pension issues

truJAX attempts to define Jacksonville’s DNA, vision