Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

A.G. GancarskiJanuary 22, 2019

The first post-qualifying fundraising reports are in for downticket Jacksonville races in the March elections, and some trends are familiar while others are exciting and new. [Note: coverage of mayoral race fundraising is here.] The races for Sheriff and Property Appraiser see Republican incumbents Mike Williams and Jerry Holland with daunting leads over Democratic challengers. Williams has over […]

A.G. GancarskiDecember 3, 2018

Duval’s December begins as most months have begun the last four years: Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry and his ever-expanding political machine standing strong, even as political enemies recover from their latest rout. Last Tuesday saw a doubleheader: back-to-back events illustrating the futility of, as the phrase once went, raging against the machine. An older phrase […]

A.G. GancarskiNovember 12, 2018

With Jacksonville’s leading Republican officeholders all in for the Ron DeSantis campaign, October fundraising for their 2019 campaigns was on the back burner. And why not? Though Jacksonville has a Democratic plurality, and statewide candidates Bill Nelson, Andrew Gillum, and Nikki Fried all won here, local Republicans have no reason to doubt their ability to hold serve based on […]

A.G. GancarskiAugust 29, 2018

After a weekend bookended by high-profile mass shootings after a high-school football game and a Madden video game tournament, Jacksonville leaders are looking for solutions. One such solution was advanced Wednesday in a meeting of City Council members and non-profit leaders: budget enhancements in the form of grants for organizations devoted to prevention and intervention. The Mayor’s Office […]

A.G. GancarskiAugust 10, 2018

Fundraising for Jacksonville City Council 2019 races is in full swing, and here’s a look at the landscape. Unmentioned races have no filed candidates at this writing. In Jacksonville City Council District 1, Democratic incumbent Joyce Morgan filed at the beginning of August, with no appreciable fundraising. Her sole opponent, Republican Bill Bishop, raised $4,400 in July […]

A.G. GancarskiJuly 12, 2018

A common thread in uncompetitive Jacksonville City Council races: June checks from the owner of a certain local NFL franchise. In District 2, challenger Jack Daniels has $115 on hand. The perpetual challenger is not exactly keeping pace with incumbent Republican Al Ferraro. Ferraro, a Mayor Lenny Curry ally, brought in $5,825 in June alone, with donations from Shad Khan […]

A.G. GancarskiJune 11, 2018

On June 1, Gov. Rick Scott suspended two Democratic Jacksonville City Council members who face 38 federal counts in a scheme to defraud local and federal taxpayers. While Scott has not yet picked replacements for the currently suspended Katrina Brown and Reggie Brown, the Councilors have live bills that currently lack a primary sponsor. Katrina […]

A.G. GancarskiMay 16, 2018

Time was when Jacksonville City Councilman Reggie Gaffney seemed vulnerable in his re-election bid. The Democrat, representing a district that sprawls from Downtown toward the airport, has dealt with legal scrapes in the past ranging from his nonprofit’s Medicaid overbilling (an issue in the 2015 campaign) to double dipping on homestead exemption claims (an issue while in […]

A.G. GancarskiMay 1, 2018

The Jacksonville City Council Finance Committee Tuesday approved a bill that may alleviate food desert conditions in one of the city’s most challenged areas. 2018-195 will, if passed by the full Council next week, approve encumbering $3 million from the Northwest Jacksonville Economic Development Trust Fund to recruit grocers or other “food options” to move into […]

A.G. GancarskiApril 2, 2018

A whistleblower action involving Community Rehabilitation Center, the non-profit of Jacksonville City Councilman Reggie Gaffney, continues to be hashed out in the 4th Judicial Circuit Court; it is now a discrimination suit. Former CRC employee Darlene Peoples contended in a late-May whistleblower lawsuit in Florida’s 4th Circuit that she was “unlawfully terminated” by the non-profit … after she was allegedly exposed to risk […]

Tag: Reggie Gaffney
Uloma Ekpete Kama. Image via campaign site.

Jacksonville local races start drawing attention — and dollars

2019 elections a referendum on Jacksonville’s strong mayor government

October slump: Governor’s race chills local political fundraising in Jacksonville

Jacksonville seeks fresh thinking after high-profile weekend killings

July looks like previous months in Jacksonville City Council fundraising

Is Shad Khan picking winners in Jacksonville City Council races?

Jacksonville City Council works to move on from suspended, indicted members

Jacksonville City Councilman Reggie Gaffney expands cash lead in re-election bid

Jacksonville City Council panel OKs $3M for Northwest ‘food options’

Discrimination suit continues against Jacksonville City Councilor’s non-profit