by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
Sixty-one candidates have qualified to run for public office, including Mayor John Peyton and his opponent Jackie Brown. Several officials don’t have a qualified opponent — Tax Collector Mike Hogan, Property Appraiser Jim Overton and City Council members Richard Clark, Daniel Davis, Art Graham, Ronnie Fussell, Kevin Hyde and Glorious Johnson — and won’t appear on the March 20 ballot.
“We anticipated this number at the beginning. It’s about average for a City election,” said Supervisor of Elections Jerry Holland, who has opposition for his office from Council member Suzanne Jenkins. She can’t run for her Council seat again due to term limits. “All of the candidates will be on the front of one page. And there are no amendments on the ballot.”
Candidates have 42 days to raise money, campaign and gain name and face recognition. As the incumbent mayor, Peyton has raised over $1.24 million and been in the public eye for more than three years. Brown has raised almost $19,000 and is best-known for appearing in front of City Council. At a November 2005 Council meeting, she was arrested after appearing dressed in costume as Aunt Jemima.
“I think people are ready for a change,” said Brown, explaining how she plans to campaign on a limited budget in a short amount of time. “I have things set up to do a lot of canvassing and I need a lot of volunteers to help get my message out. I have been going to functions and events for about six months now. I am going to work hard.”
Brown said she and Peyton will both benefit from the fall elections being finished.
“People will now be geared toward the local elections. They are looking to see who’s running and what their platforms are,” she said. “When I was out in October and November, more people were geared toward who was running for governor. Both Mr. Peyton and I have the people’s ears now.” Peyton said he’s looking forward to the race and will continue working at several initiatives.
“I welcome Jackie into the race,” he said. “I look forward to spirited conversation on how to move Jacksonville forward. This campaign is about performance, not promise. We will keep doing what we’ve been doing. The work of the City will not miss a step because I have an opponent. We will continue to work on raising the per capita income, the quality of life and early literacy.”
The primary election is March 20, and the general election is May 15. One race for an open council seat, however, has been decided. Stephen Joost qualified to run for Council member Lad Daniels’ At-large Group 3 seat. (Daniels cannot run again due to term limits.) His opponent failed to qualify, thus Joost gets the seat. This has happened once before in a Council election — nine years ago, when Daniels won his seat.
The following candidates have qualified to run for public office in March:
MAYOR
Jackie Brown (DEM)
John Peyton (REP), incumbent
SHERIFF
Dale Carson (DEM)
Reginald Davis (DEM)
John Rutherford (REP), incumbent
PROPERTY APPRAISER
Jim Overton (REP), incumbent
TAX COLLECTOR
Mike Hogan (REP), incumbent
SUPERVISOR OF ELECTIONS
Jerry Holland (REP), incumbent
Suzanne Jenkins (REP)
CITY COUNCIL
Dist. 1
Cheryl Donelan Grymes (REP)
Clay E. Yarborough (REP)
Dist. 2
Dave Baldwin (DEM)
William H. Bishop III (REP)
Jay Olchak (DEM)
Dist. 3
Richard Clark (REP), incumbent
Dist. 4
George Banks (REP)
Earl Johnson Jr. (REP)
Don Redman (REP)
Linda Storey (DEM)
Dist. 5
Leslie Goller (DEM)
Art Shad Jr. (REP), incumbent
Dist. 6
Charles Hutcherson (REP)
Sean M. Reichard (REP)
John D. “Jack” Webb (REP)
Dist. 7
Carolyn Anderson (DEM)
Kenneth Arnold (DEM)
Irvin “Pedro” Cohen (DEM)
Johnny A. Gaffney (DEM)
Martha C. Valdes-Pellino (DEM)
Dist. 8
E. Denise Lee (DEM)
L. Jerome Spates (DEM)
Rebecca L. Zeigler (DEM)
Dist. 9
Elouise Saunders Bolden (DEM)
Ayesha Covington (DEM)
Carrie L. Davis (DEM)
Fred Engness (REP)
Warren A. Jones (DEM)
Jimmy Midyette Jr. (DEM)
Valveta Turner (DEM)
Dist. 10
James Evans-Muhammad (DEM)
Mia Jones (DEM), incumbent
Dist. 11
Dick Berry (REP)
Jack Daniels (REP)
Frank Hardin (REP)
Thomas S. Harris (REP)
Ray Holt (REP)
Ray Pringle (REP)
Michael Saylor (REP)
Bob Taylor (NPA)
Dist. 12
Daniel Davis (REP), incumbent
Dist. 13
Art Graham (REP), incumbent
Dist. 14
Michael Corrigan Jr. (REP), incumbent
James N. Minion (DEM)
Dave Siebert (REP)
At-large Group 1
Ronald Fussell (REP), incumbent
At-large Group 2
Theresa Graham (REP)
Robert J. Harms (DEM)
Karl “Jay” Jabour III (REP)
At-large Group 3
Stephen C. Joost (REP)
At-large Group 4
Kevin Hyde (REP), incumbent
At-large Group 5
Glorious J. Johnson (REP), incumbent