The race to become Jacksonville’s next sheriff hit a milestone in December, with the seven candidates in the running eclipsing the $1 million mark in total fundraising.
Retired Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office director Jimmy Holderfield still leads the pack with $237,318 in contributions after collecting $19,597 in December.
He’s the first in a trio of candidates who have topped $200,000 for the race. Retired director Mike Williams brought in $15,920 to push his total to $220,227, while Sgt. Jay Farhat collected $15,475 to push his total to $200,268.
They are ahead of Tony Cummings ($124,825), Ken Jefferson ($117,579) Rob Schoonover ($106,460) and Lonnie McDonald, who raised $18,300 in his first month.
Each is vying to succeed Sheriff John Rutherford, who’s held the position since 2003 and won two subsequent elections.
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While the three candidates for sheriff have begun to break away from the pack in fundraising, the mayor’s race continues to become tighter.
Mayor Alvin Brown brought in $59,700 in December, $55,000 through his “Taking Jacksonville to the Next Level” state committee and $4,700 through his local account.
Just three donations were made to the state account, but two were substantial — attorney Wayne Hogan and contractor J.B. Coxwell both gave $25,000. The remaining $5,000 came from Orange Park Mitsubishi.
The month pushes Brown to $1.72 million for the campaign, just more than $75,000 ahead of Republican Lenny Curry’s total.
Curry closed the gap in December by bringing in $192,670. Of that, $146,300 came through his “Together for a Greater Jacksonville” state committee. The rest was through $46,370 in his local account.
His highest donations for the month came through seven $10,000 spots.
One of those was Orange Park Mitsubishi, with the others coming from the Jacksonville Kennel Club, Jacksonville Radiation, Thomas Petway III, Tom Petway, Peter Rummell and Bob Shircliff.
Curry has raised $1.64 million since announcing his candidacy in June.
Republican mayoral candidate Bill Bishop raised $5,410 in December, bringing his total to $72,235. Bishop is a City Council member.
Qualifying for the spring election began Monday and ends Friday.
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