Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

A.G. GancarskiMay 30, 2018

Jacksonville Sheriff Mike Williams and State Attorney Melissa Nelson on Wednesday rolled out the ‘KEYS 2 Drive’ (Knowledge Empowers Your Success) diversion program. The program will help those facing primary charges of driving without valid licenses, or suspended or revoked licenses, to get valid drivers’ licenses. Of the 12,000 people faced with that fate last year, estimates are […]

A.G. GancarskiMay 17, 2018

Friction and fractiousness continued in Jacksonville City Hall this week, with City Council Finance Chair Garrett Dennis calling a public-notice meeting to express concerns about potential Sunshine Law violations in the race for the Council presidency. Council Vice President Aaron Bowman charged Dennis with trying to talk multiple Councilors into vacating their pledges to back Bowman, who is […]

A.G. GancarskiFebruary 22, 2018

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As the push for gun control measures grips the state of Florida, attention has turned to the positions of Northeast Florida Republicans. Despite the carnage in Parkland, and the unprecedented activism in its wake, Republicans in the Jacksonville region aren’t evolving on the matter of assault weapons bans. The latest example: 4th Circuit State Attorney Melissa […]

A.G. GancarskiFebruary 18, 2018

Peter Rummell is among the leading names in Jacksonville’s Republican donor class, and he made news himself this weekend as part of a New York Times article detailing prominent GOP donors who no longer will back candidates who support assault weapons sales. The article focused on Al Hoffman, a Florida-based political donor and businessman who […]

A.G. GancarskiDecember 6, 2017

Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry brought his political adviser into the administration Wednesday, naming Brian Hughes as his Chief of Staff. Hughes begins in his new position January 2, 2018. “To me and dozens of other elected officials, Brian Hughes has been a senior adviser on important matters of public policy and communications,” said Curry. “Working with me, Brian […]

A.G. GancarskiSeptember 28, 2017

The case of Jacksonville City Councilman Reggie Gaffney and his troublesome license plate rages on, a full ten days after he was pulled over by police officers for driving with a license plate he had previously reported stolen. Since then, Gaffney has profusely apologized for his conduct during the stop — first at the front of […]

A.G. GancarskiSeptember 28, 2017

Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry, Sheriff Mike Williams, and 4th Circuit State Attorney Melissa Nelson talked to press at City Hall Thursday. And as such meetings go, this one had myriad purposes. One such purpose: to discuss public safety spending in the new $1.27B city budget, passed Tuesday unanimously by the City Council. The other, more holistic purpose: to […]

A.G. GancarskiAugust 22, 2017

Gary Snow, a provocateur who came to Jacksonville during the height of the 2016 campaign and continued his ad vocacy for Donald Trump after the election, was arrested in Bradenton for protest antics on Monday. Snow, reports Jenna Bourne of Action News Jax (via the Bradenton Herald), was charged with “misdemeanor riot,” after police interfered in a scuffle between Snow […]

A.G. GancarskiAugust 17, 2017

The Thursday morning agenda for the Jacksonville City Council’s Finance Committee’s budget review was filled with an assortment of departments. The Public Defender and the State Attorney. The Tax Collector. The Supervisor of Elections. All of these and a couple more besides. Of the greatest interest: the PD and the SAO, both of those offices […]

A.G. GancarskiAugust 9, 2017

Wednesday saw 4th Circuit State Attorney Melissa Nelson address the Southside Business Men’s Club. Nelson, who assumed office at the start of the year, is in the tail end of her honeymoon period. She’s been given a wide berth by many locals — media and otherwise — who remember the excesses of the Angela Corey era and […]

Tag: Melissa Nelson
State Sen. Vic Torres at U.S. Rep. Maxwell Frost event before the collapse. Photo via Jacob Ogles.

Duval County rolls out drivers license restoration program

Jacksonville ‘Sunshine Law’ flap piques prosecutors’ interest

For prominent Jacksonville Republicans, it’s impossible to buck the NRA

Peter Rummell proposes ‘transformation,’ debate in approach to 2nd Amendment issues

Brian Hughes, ‘bad boy of comms,’ to be Lenny Curry’s chief of staff

Jacksonville Sheriff, State Attorney talk Reggie Gaffney’s ‘Plategate’

Public safety – and reform – a big focus in Jacksonville’s new budget

Gary Snow, pro-Trump provocateur from Jacksonville, busted in Bradenton

Jax City Council mulls Public Defender, State Attorney budgets, processes

Melissa Nelson outlines reform path, accomplishments of State Attorney’s office