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It took almost 24 hours after the polls had closed to get a final answer, but longshot Democratic candidate Alvin Brown has been elected the next mayor of Jacksonville, FL.
Outspent by 2-1 and leaning heavily on help from the Florida Democratic Party, Brown shocked many by beating out his better known Republican rival. As absentee and provisional ballots were counted on Wednesday, Brown’s margin of victory surged from around 600 to over 1,500 votes.
“These are unprecedented times facing our city and I ask all of my supporters to join me in rallying around Alvin Brown and his team as they begin the work of getting City Hall’s fiscal house in order and putting Jacksonville back to work,” said Duval County Tax Collector and Republican mayoral candidate Mike Hogan.
In 2003, Republican John Peyton won the mayorship in a run-off against then-Sheriff Nat Glover, an African-American Democrat.
“The attitude of many people was that if Nat Glover couldn’t do it, Alvin Brown certainly doesn’t have a chance,” said one surprised voter. “People took it for granted that Hogan was going to win and they didn’t turn out in the numbers needed.”
Turnout for the election was only about 37%, down sharply from previous hotly contested mayoral races.
Brown benefited from cross-over support of many in the business community who traditionally support Republicans but felt uncomfortable with some of the positions taken by Hogan, particularly when it came to downtown development issues.
He will be Jacksonville’s first African-American mayor in history and the first Democrat elected to the office since Ed Austin in 1991.
This is SOME vindication for what happened in Duvall country in 2,000 when black voters were disenfranchised!
Congratulations to Jacksonville Mayor-Elect Alvin Brown!
Your Comments
Congratulations to Alvin Brown and the Florida Democratic GOTV machine. Kudos as well to the new head of DNC, Floridian, Debbie W-S.
The Tea Party complacency since the last election made them think that they were right about EVERYTHING and could do no wrong. The many moves made by the current governor were wrongheaded; he, of all people, knows better but did them anyway.
Florida Democrats and Independents please take note. You cannot sit on your laurels and let the voters sit on their couches. This election proves that you have to beat the bushes or our democracy will turn irrevocably into a Fascist (read: corporate) state. The moves the Republicans are making now have been in the works since 1973. Slowly over time, our democracy has been chipped away at by legislation aimed at favoring corporations. We just did not see it. The dots were just not being connected. We can’t sit idly by if we want to preserve the American Dream for future generations of real people. The corporations will always fend for themselves.
As a former Jacksonvillian, I’m proud that Brown and DEM swam against the St. John flow and finally backwashed its elite out of the current Floridian Republican confederacy.
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