New district maps for congressional seats have been fashioned by the Florida Legislature and they are tinted Republican red in this area.
That has fueled speculation that new local candidates may emerge – including Mayor Lenny Curry, a registered Republican.
Curry has thrown a little gasoline on the fire by allegedly admitting it has entered his mind. (We don’t know that because Curry does not speak to Eye on Jacksonville.)
There is much remaining, however.
One is that the new maps might get tied up in litigation and not even be used in the upcoming midterm elections. Democrats are mighty peeved about the proposed redistricting. Apparently, the goofy leftists expected the Republicans in control of state government to make it easier for Democrats to get elected.
The new map embraced by legislators was designed by Gov. Ron DeSantis. It breaks up a gerrymandered district that runs from Tallahassee to Jacksonville.
If the new maps are used, Nassau County and a large chunk of Jacksonville would be a district. U.S. Rep. John Rutherford’s district would look different but he should be safely in for another term.
But if Curry ran it would mean resigning as mayor to run, causing a special election in November to elect a new mayor, and since two or more City Council members would run for that position it would mean filling their seats as well.
A new mayor would only sit for a few months before having to run again next spring.
That might present a problem for someone like Daniel Davis, who is sitting on a mountain of cash but hasn’t gotten into the mayor’s race. The speculation is that he doesn’t want to drop his $400,000 gig with the Chamber of Commerce any earlier than absolutely necessary.
He would have to spend a lot of that cash to boost his name recognition for a November election and then do it all over again in a few months. Other lesser-known candidates such as LeAnna Cumber and Al Ferraro would have the same problem but have collected a lot less money to date.
Then, whoever wins has only a few months in office. That, as one of the local experts Eye on Jacksonville talked with, would leave little time to accomplish anything that would establish an all-important “incumbency” record.
It could cause popular local politicians such as Jerry Holland to reconsider his reconsideration. Holland, the current property appraiser, had toyed with the idea of a mayoral run before decided to run again for his current job.
Candidate Curry’s biggest problem would be overcoming his tax and spending record and the JEA millstone around his neck.
