by Glenn Tschimpke
Staff Writer
While candidates have been clamoring over each other to replace Mayor John Delaney next year, the race for Jacksonville’s top lawman has started at a more modest pace. So far, only two people have filed their intent to run for sheriff, Martin Garris and John Rutherford.
“I filed my paperwork 24 months ago,” said Garris, who admits to having his eye on current sheriff Nat Glover’s badge for a long time.
Nothing against Glover, though, he assures. “I joined the Jacksonville Sheriff’’s Office in 1960 and intended to work my way to the top.”
Garris has 40 years of police experience. After 15 years with JSO, he joined the University of North Florida’s police force in 1975 where he worked his way up to director of Police and Public Safety during his 20 years at the school. He moved back to JSO in 1995 and became the chief of Community Affairs until he retired in 1999. After three years away from the force, he’s looking to get back in at the top of the police roster.
A big proponent of police-to-community relations, Garris concedes that the JSO has suffered a public relations blow over the last year when, among other stumblings, officers mishandled a teenage murder suspect.
“Anytime you have a scandal like that, you have to work double hard to overcome it,” he said. “There are some bad apples. But the next question after that is, is that all of them? Is there more?”
Rutherford, on the other hand, has paced himself. More conservative in his approach, he says he’s “still exploring the candidacy potential.” Make no mistake, he’s a serious candidate.
Currently the director of the Department of Corrections, Rutherford has nearly 30 years with the JSO. He’s been considered a champion of change throughout his career, with the jail as his most recent resurrection project. Confidence in his abilities and his level of experience is not an issue with Rutherford.
“I think that’s going to be the issue, as it always is,” he said. “I’ve been tested and proven. I have the leadership skills to lead a large organization and I know how to effect change.”
Rutherford has been quietly campaigning over the last year, showing up to functions as a guest speaker and generally reminding the locals who he is and what he’s about. The response, he says, has been encouraging.
“I’m flattered by the response,” said Rutherford. “There is a tremendous amount of businessmen and women, both Democrats and Republicans, who want me to run.”
He plays coy when asked who his supporters are, but acknowledged that many of them would shake out when his first campaign finance report is released April 10.
While Garris and Rutherford are the only two to officially come forth so far, the political rumor mill has churned out names of other possible candidates — most of them current or former police officers. One non-police name to surface, however, is Assistant State Attorney Angela Corey. The 20-year prosecutor has been rumored to be considering a run, although Corey shakes it off as someone else’s idea. But there could be something to it.
“There’s a grain of truth to the fact that there are people who have asked me to consider it,” she said. “There is also a grain of truth that I have considered it.”
At stake, she says, is her two-decade career as a lawyer, which she is not too eager to end. Either way, she plans to consider it for another month before making a decision.
Glover was first elected in 1995 and reelected in 1999. Term limits preclude him from running for sheriff again.