by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
It was a flashback to 2003 at Thursday’s Gator Bowl Association meeting. Mike Weinstein was mingling among some of Jacksonville’s most affluent, shaking hands, smiling. He looked like a man seeking a vote.
He was.
Weinstein reconfirmed his desire to run against incumbent Mayor John Peyton. He said he will open his campaign account either Oct. 5 or 6 and plans to officially kick off his campaign the week after the Nov. 7 general election.
“I am committed to doing it, it’s no secret and I’m looking forward to the rematch,” said Weinstein, who lost a close race to Peyton in ‘03 in the Republican primary.
“The last election I raised $1 million and John Peyton raised over $2 million and I lost by one percentage point,” said Weinstein. “I anticipate being able to raise $ 1 million.”
Weinstein is the original executive director of the Jacksonville Economic Development Commission. After leaving the JEDC, Weinstein — who is a lawyer by trade — joined the Super Bowl Host Committee where he was a member of the board of directors. After failing to get the Republican nod in ‘03, he was named the president of Take Stock in Children Florida on Sept. 4, 2003, a job he has today.
Fundraising will be an issue. Peyton hasn’t officially started campaigning yet, but has opened a campaign account. To date, Peyton has $1.16 million in his account. His campaign manager is Mike Hightower, who is also the local Republican Party chairman — a fact that doesn’t sit well with Weinstein.
“It is not appropriate for the chair of the party to be the campaign chair of a candidate,” said Weinstein.
Hightower has said several times that he will continue to raise money on Peyton’s behalf until a Republican candidate other than Peyton qualifies to run. Qualifying is Feb. 20-27.
Weinstein said he spent the past several months debating whether to run. His recent decision to commit to it, however, isn’t from a desire to avenge the close loss three years ago, but rather to offer voters a viable choice in the spring. He also believes the community needs another option.
“We need to get moving again,” he said. “We have stalled as a community and we need to start moving forward.
“I want to give people a choice, I believe I have the financial support and it will be a good race. This will not be nasty, at least not by me. There is no need for negative comments.”
Weinstein said he’s in the process of forming his campaign team. Once he opens an account at the Supervisor of Elections Office, Weinstein will focus on raising funds. He realizes that much of the local Republican money is spoken for, but he also believes that there’s plenty left.
“I’ll raise money the same way I did last time,” he said. “As many people that have contributed to John Peyton, there are many more willing to contribute to others. Four years ago, about eight of us (mayoral candidates) altogether raised about $5 million. John Peyton is not without enough money. Still, there’s enough in the community to put together a competitive race. I think I can raise enough to put my message out.”
By the time he officially gets in Weinstein will have about six months to convince voters he’s right for the job. After going through nearly 18 months of campaigning during the last race, Weinstein said six months is adequate.
“Eighteen months is too long and it’s not an efficient use of time,” he said. “I am very busy with the Take Stock in Children effort and I have a lot of responsibility with that.”
Take Stock in Children is headquartered in Jacksonville and Ft. Lauderdale. Those two offices serve as the model for the other 65 offices in the state.
Weinstein said there will be two big differences this time: Peyton was a relative unknown in 2003 and there won’t be half a dozen candidates with name recognition. He also said he learned a lot during the last race.
“I learned John Peyton is a great candidate and I have learned lessons on how to be a better candidate from him,” said Weinstein. “Also, this time there won’t be former City Council presidents (Matt Carlucci, Ginger Soud and Alberta Hipps) and a former sheriff (Nat Glover) running. There’s a lot of exposure when there are just two candidates.
“I will run a good campaign and talk about a lot of issues. This is a great city and it should have legitimate choices.”