by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
In what might have been the last opportunity for Denise Lee and Tony Hill to address the same group, both State Senate District 1 candidates made an appearance at Thursday’s First Coast Tiger Bay Club. And both opted to focus primarily on the issues within Dist. 1 and the state.
For the past several months, the focus of the race hasn’t been on Lee and Hill and what they bring to the table. Rather, it’s been on who should and shouldn’t be running. There’s a strong sentiment among the African-American community that Hill should be running unopposed for what was Betty Holzendorf’s seat. Holzendorf, who will step down in January because of term limits, has openly endorsed Hill, as has U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown and City Council member Pat Lockett-Felder.
Lee, who has chosen not to seek reelection to her Dist. 15 State House of Representatives seat, believes Holzendorf’s soon-to-be-open seat is just that — fair game.
“I think everybody knows I was told not to run, that it was not my turn,” said Lee. “But those seats are for the people and I think my record speaks for itself. This race is about the issues and I’ve run a clean campaign and I will continue to run a clean campaign. I want to be judged by my record and I don’t believe this seat is to be willed to anyone.”
Lee is counting on her 17 years as a member of Jacksonville’s City Council and three years in the State House to help convince the voters of Dist. 1 — which meanders from Jacksonville south into Volusia County — to vote for her.
“I am the only candidate in this race with 20 years of experience,” said Lee who was elected to Council in 1982. Lee added that for her entire political career she has been known as a battler and nothing has changed to alter that personal trait. “All these years I have been known as a lot of things and one of the things I’ve been known as is a fighter. This race has shown me that fighting is the right thing to do.”
Neither candidate resorted to back-biting or ambiguous references to the race and its obvious or implied undertones. Both chose to concentrate on the issues facing the district, as did the Tiger Bay members.
Hill, who was elected to the Florida House from Dist. 14 in 1992, said education, health care, working families and the local economy — in that order — top his priority list. A product of a family filled with longshoremen, Hill said his working-class background laid the foundation for both his professional and political career.
“The Longshoremen’s Association is a great organization that pumps millions of dollars into this area,” said Hill, adding that his exposure to the local Young Democrats and subsequent campaign work convinced him that politics was in his future. “The last three times I ran unopposed because I never forgot where I came from and that is working families.
“This race is not about party politics. It’s a right or wrong issue. It’s about parents and children. It’s about quality of life. It’s about the right to vote and having that vote counted. It’s about public education and class size. It’s about affordable, quality health care for the elderly.
“I will continue to take those issues to the floor of the Senate.”
Lee also took the opportunity to dispel a few myths that have dogged her throughout the years: one, that all she reminds people of is her 17 years on Council and, two, she can’t work with others, white or black.
“A lot of people have been saying all along that all Denise talks about is what she did on City Council,” she said. “I say politics is about what you did locally. Nobody here is voting for anybody in Miami.
“I’ve only had three years in the legislature and I’m proud to say I have passed three bills. If I’m in longer, I’ll have the opportunity to pass more. I’m a person who can work with others.”