by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
Mayor John Peyton had a quiet third quarter and so did most of the local candidates for office, particularly those running in the spring elections. Peyton, who has about $1.2 million in his account, didn’t have a single fundraiser and Mike Hightower, his campaign manager and local Republican Party chair, said his account actually earned more in interest than was deposited.
“I am not going to ask our people to raise money for him (Peyton) when there’s a governor’s and others,” said Hightower, adding he has helped raise over $2 million for Republican gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist. “I do not have the heart to ask them right now.”
Overall, between the mayor’s race, constitutional officer races, City Council races and two local judicial races, candidates have raised nearly $3.5 million. Although no one added significantly to their account during the past fundraising quarter, a few City Council candidates don’t have any opposition yet and have surpassed — or are nearing — the $100,000 mark. Council At-large Group 2 candidate Jay Jabour is currently unopposed and has over $100,000 in his account as does Dist. 12 incumbent and Council Vice President Daniel Davis. Incumbents Art Graham (Dist. 13) and Art Shad (Dist. 5) are both within a few thousand dollars of $100,000 and incumbent Richard Clark (Dist. 3) has nearly $85,000 is his account.
Hightower said he’s always impressed with what Northeast Florida candidates are able to raise, even with two big elections within several months of each other.
“I never cease to be amazed at the generosity of the business community when it comes to a pro-business candidate,” said Hightower, an executive with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida. “Why do others come to Northeast Florida? Because of the pro-business, conservative fundraisers. It is truly an honor and a pleasure to be chairman of this party.”
The mayor’s race got interesting last week when Mike Weinstein filed paperwork to run and opened a finance account with $25,000 of his own money. Weinstein lost to Peyton by one percentage point in the Republican primary in 2003 and is convinced he can win in May. Weinstein set a goal of raising $1 million, a mark he believes is enough to run effectively, especially with a limited field.
Hightower said he and Peyton are taking Weinstein’s entry seriously, but from a fundraising perspective it doesn’t mean much until after the Nov. 7 general election.
“He (Weinstein) has opened an account and we will soon go into full action mode,” said Hightower. “The mayor has 109 on his (fundraising) committee — 110 if you count me — and we will pull together. It’s well-organized and coordinated now.”
The following are the total contributions to date of the candidates for mayor, constutional officer, City Council and local Circuit and County Court. The figures were obtained from the Supervisor of Elections Office.
Mayor
Jackie Brown — $15,600
Diane Melendez — $0
John Peyton (incumbent) — $1,153,016.78
Mike Weinstein — N/A
Property Appraiser
Jim Overton (incumbent) — $1,100
Supervisor of Elections
Jerry Holland (incumbent) — $25,300
Sheriff
Dale Carson — $500
John Rutherford (incumbent) — $249,980
City Council
At-large Group 1
Ronnie Fussell (incumbent) — $51,450
At-large Group 2
Jay Jabour — $103,349.44
At-large Group 3
Jack Capra — $17,947.52
Stephen Joost — $92,933.06
At-large Group 4
Kevin Hyde (incumbent) — $55,075
At-large Group 5
Glorious Johnson (incumbent) — $34,387.40
Dist. 1
Cheryl Grimes — $53,634.94
Clay Yarborough — $20,552.21
Dist. 2
Terry Akins — $210
Dave Baldwin — $525
William Bishop III — $8,150
Ellan Duke — $0
Jay Olchak — $8,556.10
Dist. 3
Richard Clark (incumbent) — $84,750
Dist. 4
George Banks — $12,125
Don Redman — $18,801
Dist. 5
Art Shad (incumbent) — $95,906.69
Dist. 6
Bob Baughman — $7,050
Charles Hutcherson — $3,900
John D. “Jack” Webb — $51,457.14
Greg Youngblood — $6,326.11
Scott Zacher — $560
Dist. 7
Carolyn Anderson — $3,963.01
Kenneth Arnold — $2,430
Irvin “Pedro” Cohen — $150
Johnny A. Gaffney — $22,030
Marc A. McCullough— $0
Martha C. Valdes-Pellino — $4,695
Dist. 8
Rebecca Balkcom Zeigler — $3,694
E. Denise Lee — $44,260
Dist. 9
Carrie L. Davis — $2,650
Fred J. Engness — $0
Jimmy Midyette Jr. — $6,381.89
Elouise Saunders Bolden — $250
Valveta Turner — $390. 25
Dist. 10
James Evans-Muhammed — $964
Juanita Franklin — $500
Mia Jones (incumbent) — $40,747
Dist. 11
Richard Berry — $37,550
Jack Daniels — $177,980.71
Frank Hardin — $9,725
Thomas Harris — $1,850
Ray Holt — $22,116.22
Ray Pringle — $19,175
Bob Taylor — $5,300
Dist. 12
Daniel Davis (incumbent) — $102,044.70
Dist. 13
Art Graham (incumbent) — $93,651.85
Dist. 14
Michael Corrigan (incumbent) — $28,900
County Court Judge Group 17
Dawn Hudson — $290,819.05
Virginia Norton — $220,789.69
Circuit Court Judge Group 34
John Merrett — $146,745
David Thompson — $19,134.91