Alvin Brown: ‘Make sure every vote is counted’
by David Chapman
Staff Writer
Tuesday night was reminiscent of Democrat Alvin Brown’s rise to potentially become Jacksonville’s next mayor.
Brown’s official election-night party headquarters at the Hyatt Downtown began around 7 p.m. with few supporters in tow. Over the next couple of hours, more people showed up and displayed guarded optimism while Republican Mike Hogan continued his lead in the polls.
Close to 9 p.m., when it was announced the candidates were close to a 50-50 split, the crowd – now filling the majority of the River Deck – erupted with cheers.
As the numbers continued to climb in Brown’s favor, with Brown down 14 votes at one point, the crowd became more boisterous and outspoken until he emerged with his family to address supporters.
But by the time he hit the stage to address them just before 10 p.m.; he was unofficially ahead, although by a slim
margin.
“We’re not going to know tonight who the next mayor is,” said Brown. “There are a few more votes to be counted and the margin between the two candidates is tight.”
“But you’re in the lead!” said a supporter.
With all precincts reporting, Brown was ahead by 603 votes.
“We should be patient but be excited,” said Brown. “We want to make sure that every vote is counted.”
Those votes include both absentee and provisional ballots that will be counted today. Brown stressed that the situation isn’t a recount. A mandatory recount would be triggered if the margin between the two was less than one-half of one percent.
After his remarks to supporters, Brown left with his family. Chris Hand with the Brown camp handled media questions.
Hand said Brown will have representatives at the canvassing board meeting and is “well prepared” with a strong legal counsel. He repeated Brown’s call to handle the situation in a responsible, patient manner while having “respect for the process.”
“The most important thing at this time is to make sure that every vote is counted,” said Hand, prefacing it by saying that is responsible leadership.
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by David Chapman
Staff Writer
Mike Hogan: ‘We’ll know tomorrow’
by Karen Brune Mathis
Managing Editor
Republican mayoral candidate Mike Hogan’s supporters started Tuesday evening cheering an early lead over Democrat Alvin Brown.
Just after polls closed at 7 p.m., the growing crowd at Hogan’s Westside campaign headquarters applauded enthusiastically at a report that Hogan led Brown 53 percent to 47 percent.
As the evening unfolded, supporters showed visible concern as the lead dwindled. The race was too close to call by the time Hogan emerged from the back of the headquarters and took the microphone about 10:20 p.m.
“We’ll know tomorrow. We’ll know a lot more tomorrow,” Hogan said, thanking supporters for their hard work the past two years as he sought to succeed term-limited Mayor John Peyton.
Hogan said a vote recount would begin at 9 a.m. today, referring to a Supervisor of Elections count of about 1,000 absentee ballots cast Tuesday and more than 600 provisional ballots.
“We’re so grateful for everything you’ve done for us,” Hogan told supporters.
“I’m sorry you had to wait so long. We were back there waiting, too. We’ll speak again real soon.”
He was preceded at the podium by Duval County Republican Party Chair Lenny Curry. Among the many supporters on hand were retail developer Toney Sleiman, Fraternal Order of Police President Nelson Cuba and Jacksonville Association of Fire Fighters President Randy Wyse.
Hogan, who ran on a platform of fiscal conservatism, still led the vote count at 8 p.m. with 60 percent of precincts reporting. At 9 p.m., when the race tightened to 50-50, the crowd reacted with a collective “oh!”
By 9:40 p.m., Hogan had just a 14-vote lead, and by 9:50 the supporters watched Brown on one of the several televisions in the headquarters at Roosevelt Boulevard and Timuquana Road.
Hogan limited his remarks to a few minutes and as supporters were leaving, they learned by 10:45 p.m. that Brown was ahead by 603 votes.
Republican leader Mike Hightower called the results “inconclusive” and said it was inappropriate to speculate on the outcome.
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