UP. I TEND TO 95 TO DOWNTOWN 10 MINUTES IN THE YELLOW THERE AS WELL. SAFE TRAVELS. AND
THAT’S A LOOK AT YOUR TIME
SAVER TRAFFIC.
>>VIC MICOLUCCI: NATIONAL
HEADLINES HAVE BEEN PRETTY
DRAMATIC TIMING. WHAT’S BEING
CALLED A MAJOR UPSET IN THE
JACKSONVILLE MAYOR’S RACE WITH
DONNA DEEGAN BECOMING
JACKSONVILLE’S. FIRST FEMALE
MAYOR JOINING ME IN THE
MORNING SHOW RICK MULLANEY
NEWSFOURJAX POLITICAL ANALYST
AND HEAD OF THE PUBLIC POLICY
INSTITUTE. GOOD MORNING, RICK.
GOOD MORNING FOR US. SO THE
RACE WAS CLOSE, BUT ONE OF THE
REASONS IT’S BEING CALLED AN
UPSET IS THAT A DEMOCRAT BEAT
A CANDIDATE ENDORSED BY
GOVERNOR RON DESANTIS AND
FLORIDA’S BIGGEST CITY. AND
THE DESANTIS FACTOR IS ONE
THAT THE NATIONAL POLITICAL,
YOU KNOW, WATCHERS ARE ARE
USING AS A FACTOR. YOU
DISAGREE. YOU THINK IT’S
BECAUSE HER OPPONENT RAN SUCH
A NEGATIVE RACE? WELL, LET ME
SAY THIS. IT’S UNDERSTANDABLE
THAT THE NATIONAL MEDIA WOULD
FOCUS ON GOVERNOR DESANTIS IS
GETTING READY TO RUN FOR
PRESIDENT.
>> AND THEY GOT IT RIGHT THAT
THIS IS ONE OF THE BIGGEST
UPSETS IN THE MAYOR’S RACE IN
THE HISTORY OF JACKSONVILLE.
BUT I DON’T THINK IT HAD MUCH
TO DO WITH GOVERNOR DESANTIS.
IT HAD EVERYTHING TO DO WITH
DONNA DEEGAN, WHO RAN AN
EXTRAORDINARY CAMPAIGN. AND
DANIEL DAVIS’S CAMPAIGN, WHICH
DID NOT WHEN YOU LOOK AT THIS
CAMPAIGN AND ITS UPSET,
REMEMBER, JACKSON HAD A NUMBER
OF UPSET VICTORIES IN THE PAST
ALVIN BROWN IN 2011 WHEN HE
CAME OUT OF NOWHERE AND HE
BECAME THE FIRST BLACK MAYOR
IN HISTORY OF OUR CITY. JOHN
DELANEY, WHO CAME OUT OF
NOWHERE, 1995 AND BECAME THE
FIRST REPUBLICAN MAYOR SINCE
RECONSTRUCTION AND USHERED IN
THE ERA OF REPUBLICAN
VICTORIES. BUT THIS WAS
DIFFERENT. DONNA DEEGAN DID
COME OUT OF NOWHERE. SHE WAS
WELL KNOWN, BUT THE MONEY
ADVANTAGE, BRUCE. DANIEL DAVIS
RAISE NEARLY 9 MILLION
DOLLARS. DONNA DEEGAN HAD JUST
OVER 2 MILLION DOLLARS. THAT’S
AN EXTRAORDINARY AMOUNT TO
OVERCOME. SECOND HISTORY WAS
ON THE SIDE OF DANIEL DAVIS
WITH LOCAL THE LOCAL GOP AS
WELL AS WE’VE HAD ONE
DEMOCRATIC MAYOR IN THE LAST
30 YEARS. AND THAT WAS OUT AND
BROWN. AND FINALLY, THE
NEGATIVE CAMPAIGNING THAT
USUALLY WORKS. DONNA DEEGAN
OVERCAME ONE OF THE MOST
DIVISIVE AND NEGATIVE
CAMPAIGNS IN OUR CITY’S
HISTORY. IT WAS AN
EXTRAORDINARY ELECTION. ONE OF
THE GREAT UPSETS. I REALLY
DON’T THINK IT’S THAT MUCH
ABOUT RON DESANTIS. IT IS
ABOUT THE POSITIVE CAMPAIGN OF
DONNA DEEGAN AND IS THE
REJECTION OF THE DAVIS
CAMPAIGN. LET ME TALK ABOUT
THE GOP FACTOR HERE.
INSIGNIFICANT FOR 3 REASONS.
REPUBLICANS HAVE LONG HAD THE
EDGE IN DUVAL COUNTY. THE
AREAS NOT HAD A DEMOCRATIC
MAYOR SINCE ALVIN BROWN AND IN
NOVEMBER DESANTIS KERRY DUVAL
BY 12 POINTS. IT’S TRUE. BUT
KEEP THIS IN MIND, DUVAL
COUNTY ITSELF, AT LEAST ON THE
STATEWIDE AND NATIONAL LEVEL
HAS BEEN TRENDING BLUE IN
2018. YOU SAW THAT BILL NELSON
MORE VOTES, QUITE FRANKLY, IN
THE U.S. SENATE RACE AGAINST
RICK SCOTT AND ANDREW GILLUM,
MORE THAN GOVERNOR DESANTIS IN
2018 IN TWENTY-TWENTY. WHAT
YOU SAW WAS THAT JOE BIDEN FOR
THE FIRST TIME SINCE JIMMY
CARTER GOT MORE VOTES IN DUVAL
COUNTY FOR PRESIDENT IN DUVAL
COUNTY. THERE ARE 35,000 MORE
REGISTERED DEMOCRATS. THEN
REPUBLICANS, YOU HAVE TO 31%
BLACK POPULATION, WHICH IS
PREDOMINANTLY DEMOCRATIC. BUT
DESPITE ALL THAT IN LOCAL
ELECTIONS, IT HAS BEEN A RED
WAVE ON MARCH 16TH, THEIR
FIRST ELECTION MARCH. 21ST, WE
HAVE OUR FIRST ELECTION AND
THAT WON 11 OF THE 12 CITY
COUNCIL MEMBERS WERE
REPUBLICAN. 4 OF THE 5. A
CONSTITUTIONAL OFFICERS WERE
REPUBLICAN. SO THE BIG PRIZE,
THE MAYOR’S RACE, YOU TAKE A
LOOK AT WHAT HAPPENED HERE.
ONE OF THE STORYLINES AS RED
WAVE IN THE FALL AND THE
SPRING. BUT BRUCE, ONE OF THE
GREAT STORYLINES HERE IS
REPUBLICAN CROSSOVER TO DONNA
DEEGAN. AND THAT WILL BE
TALKED ABOUT, I BELIEVE, FOR
YEARS TO COME. IT WAS ONE OF
HER THERE. MANY KEYS-TURNER
VICTORY. ONE OF THE KEYS TO
HER VICTORY WAS REPUBLICAN
CROSSOVER TO DONNA DEEGAN AND
REJECTING THE DAVIS CAMPAIGN
INCREASES THE ACRIMONY. THE
CAMPAIGN THAT’S IN THE PAST.
TK WATERS SAID, YOU KNOW, THE
SHERIFF POLITICS IS POLITICS.
>>BRUCE HAMILTON: AND LAST
NIGHT IN HIS CONCESSION
SPEECH, DANIEL DAVIS SAID,
LOOK, I’M GOING TO WORK WITH
THE MAYOR ELECT DONNA DEEGAN
SAID FORGET R AND D WHEN SHE
COMES TO LEADING THE CITY. AND
I THINK YOU TALKED ABOUT THIS
LAST NIGHT THAT SHE HAD TO
TAKE A PAGE OUT OF THE BOOK
THAT WAS WRITTEN BY JOHN
DELANEY WHEN HE BECAME MAYOR.
>> I THINK SO. I THINK DONNA
DEEGAN IS GOING TO BEEF IS
GOING TO BE FROM THAT MOLD.
AND I TALKED ABOUT SORT OF A
DELAY, ANY CONSENSUS MODEL
FROM YEARS AGO IN WHICH YOU
REACH OUT TO EVERYBODY, YOU
REACH OUT TO THOSE WHO OPPOSE
YOU AND YOU TRY TO BRING
EVERYBODY IN. SHE’S INDICATED
THAT’S EXACTLY WHAT SHE WANTS
TO DO. AND I THINK THE VOTERS
LAST NIGHT SAID THEY WANT TO
TURN THE PAGE ON THE KIND OF
POLITICS WE’VE BEEN
EXPERIENCING. THEY’VE HAD
ENOUGH OF THE NEGATIVE AND
DIVISIVE CAMPAIGN AND DONNA
DEEGAN TO HER CREDIT. BY THE
WAY, NOT ONLY THAT, YOU RUN A
VERY POSITIVE CAMPAIGN. NOT
ONLY WAS SHE ENERGETIC, SHE
SHOWED UP. SHE SHOWED UP FOR
DEBATES. SHE SHOWED UP FOR
FORMS. SHE SHOWED UP FOR
INTERVIEWS AND I DON’T THINK
HE’S QUITE GOTTEN THE CREDIT
FOR THE MASTERY OF SUBJECT
MATTER. EXPERTISE. SHE DID HER
HOMEWORK. SHE CAME PREPARED.
SO PART OF THE STORYLINE IS A
CREDIT TO HER. THE OTHER STORY
LINE IS THE REJECTION OF A
VERY NEGATIVE AND DIVISIVE
DAVIS CAMPAIGN. AND SO TO SEE
IS HOW THE CITY COUNCIL FACTOR
PLAYS AND TIME WILL TELL ON