Two ended up not being enough for Mayor Alvin Brown.
After weeks of saying he was only taking part in two televised debates against Republican challenger Lenny Curry, Brown’s campaign Wednesday afternoon announced he would participate in a third — just hours before the event is scheduled to take place.
Brown and Curry now will face off at 7 p.m. at Florida State College at Jacksonville’s Beach Boulevard campus. The debate, hosted by WJAX TV-47, WOKV and FSCJ, is the first of the three public debates.
In a news release, Brown said the decision came down to Curry having “lied about Jacksonville and diminished the accomplishments of its citizens.”
“Over the months, and especially over the last several weeks, Lenny Curry has done nothing but criticize Jacksonville, told lies about who we are and what we’ve accomplishment (sic), and sought to diminish our incredible growth of the last four years,” Brown said.
Brian Hughes, Curry's spokesman, said Brown's claims of lies are "absurd" and Curry has run an "optimistic campaign."
The decision to participate was made Tuesday night, Brown campaign spokesman Yianni Varonis said. He went on to say the decision wasn’t influenced by polling numbers or the possibility of the stage having an empty podium.
Instead, he said it was about the opportunity to “look Lenny in the eyes” and defend Jacksonville’s growth and successes during his term.
Bob Longo, WJAX TV-47/WFOX TV-30 news director, said the station has had the standing invite to the mayor for some time and that there had been email correspondences the past few days about participating in Wednesday’s debate. But, he said, he found out about the decision shortly after noon Wednesday.
“Well, we’re pleased,” said Longo. “Our hope all along was that it would be a two-candidate debate. The big winner here are viewers … Really, it’s everybody’s first chance to see them.”
The other debates are Monday at Jacksonville University and Tuesday at WJCT.