by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
When Jacksonville voters go to the polls for the April 20, 2007 primary, they won’t just have to choose at least nine new City Council members and, perhaps, a new mayor. Four of Duval County’s five constitutional officers will also be on the ballot, provided they have opposition. And, all five (Clerk of Court Jim Fuller, who doesn’t have to run again until the fall of 2008, included) have indicated they intend to seek another term.
Property Appraiser Jim Overton is going to run for re-election and will begin the process later this month.
“I have not opened an account yet, but I have been talking to some people about setting up a small headquarters,” said Overton. “I am starting the process and I expect to open an account by the end of the month and get started on a campaign.”
Overton says he has plenty to run on. Since taking office in 2003, Overton has earned his state certification as a property appraiser, reorganized the office and implemented a new computer system that is up and running. He also plans to create an internal ethics program next quarter.
While no one has filed to run for his job yet, Overton believes someone will.
“I have not heard of anyone yet, but my experience is that you have to expect a race,” said Overton, who served two terms in City Council from 1995-2003. “We have done some great stuff in the office and I’d hate to leave now.”
Overton can qualify for the election by either collecting enough signatures (3 percent of the total number of voters in the last general election) or by paying the qualifying fee ($7,797.32 for a partisan candidate and $5,194.88 for a non-partisan).
“Obviously, it’s easier to qualify by writing a check, but I will probably qualify by signature,” he said. “I think there’s a political advantage to qualifying by signature. It shows you already have some support.”
Supervisor of Elections Jerry Holland filed to run for re-election last week. Holland served on City Council from 1995 until when he won a special election Feb. 15, 2005 to replace John Stafford, who resigned for health reasons. Holland hasn’t been on the job long and says this fall’s elections will be a good indicator of how he’ll fare in 2007 and whether anyone will run against him.
“This time, it’s a little different. My report card will be based on how the elections go this fall,” he said. “If the changes we have made and implemented work well, then everything should be smooth. If there are problems, we will have to see if they are within the office or were because of the environment and how we’ll react to those problems.”
To date, no one has filed to run against Holland. Candidates for the job can qualify either by signature or paying the qualifying fee ($6,758.58 for a partisan candidate and $4,505.72 for a non-partisan candidate.)
Sheriff John Rutherford filed to run for re-election last July and started raising funds shortly thereafter. Rutherford has a policy of not discussing his campaign during the business day, but his campaign is being managed by Ward Blakely, owner of Blue Tusk Communications. Blakely said Rutherford has raised about $225,000, most of which was collected in the first quarter of campaigning (July-September). When Rutherford ran for sheriff in 2003, he ran on a 10-point platform. Blakely said the key to getting re-elected is following up on that platform.
“A lot of people say that incumbency is the only important thing. That’s not necessarily true. There are a lot of unpopular incumbents out there,” said Blakely, explaining that Rutherford’s record since taking over from former Sheriff Nat Glover is solid. “He’s been tested and the fruits of his work are coming in.”
One of Rutherford’s points on his platform was cutting down on the number of habitual offender arrests in Duval County. According to Blakely, it was costing taxpayers $3-4 million a year to arrest individuals more than five times a year for misdemeanors without serving significant time. That has been changed.
“The sheriff realized that it was the same group of people, went to Tallahassee and got legislation passed that says if you are arrested for a misdemeanor five or more times in a given year, you automatically serve time in jail for up to one year,” said Blakely.
So far, only Dale Carson Jr. has filed to run against Rutherford. Blakely said it is too early to determine if Rutherford will qualify via fee ($9,213.66 for a partisan candidate and $6,142.44 for a non-partisan candidate) or signed petition.
Tax Collector Mike Hogan knows a thing or two about winning an election. Before defeating John Winkler in 2003, Hogan served from 1999 until late 2002 in the Florida legislature and from 1991-99 on the Jacksonville City Council. Hogan hasn’t officially filed any paperwork with the elections office and it will be a while before he does.
“I haven’t filed, but I am going to run again,” he said. “It won’t be soon because the election is over a year off. I’ll probably file my paperwork in August or September.”
Hogan said he hasn’t heard of anyone expressing interest in his job, but with eight Council members having to step down due to term limits and Reggie Fullwood expected to resign in order to run for the State legislature, Hogan figures someone will eventually run against him.
“I have learned to never anticipate a walkover,” said Hogan, of the term used when an incumbent runs unopposed. He added his job is a little different from the other constitutional officers and very different from the legislative branch of government. “I can’t change the law and I can’t shape any zoning codes or pass any budgets. I have very little to do with decision making, but the Tax Collector has more contact with the public than any other public official.”
The qualifying fee for Tax Collector is $7,792.32 for a partisan candidate and $5,194.88 for a non-partisan candidate.
Fuller ran unopposed in 2004 and doesn’t have to run again until 2008. A quirk in the elections laws means that the Clerk of the Court runs during presidential election years.
“I am the only constitutional officer that runs a different year. But, I do plan to run in 2008,” said Fuller, who defeated Terry Wood in 2000 when longtime Clerk of the Court Henry Cook was forced out due to term limits (a ruling that was later reversed after Fuller won the election).
The job is Fuller’s second as an elected official. He served in the Florida Legislature from 1992-2000. The qualifying fees for Clerk of the Court are $7,966.38 for a partisan candidate and $5,310.92 for a non-partisan candidate.