February 7, 2015

The First Coast Tea Party hosted a Hob Nob Straw Poll on February 7, 2015 on the Duval Unitary March 24th lengthy ballot. The Hob Nob was open to the public and a media release was issued to encourage voters to attend.

Nearly 500 attendees got acquainted with 36 candidates running for Mayor, Sheriff, Supervisor of Election and 16 City Council seats 40% of the candidate at the event are Democrat , 60% Republican and 1 candidate has no party affiliation.
Lenny Curry won the Mayoral vote with 61%, defeating incumbent Alvin Brown with 13% and former City Council President Bill Bishop with 21% of the vote. The race for Sheriff with 7 candidates was won by Jimmy Holderfield with 37% of the vote. Mike Hogan won 76% of the vote for Supervisor of Election. City Council candidates Greg Anderson, Jim Love and Doyle Carter swept over 85% of the vote in their races while candidates David Barron, Geoff Youngblood and Matt Schellenberg garnered more than 65% of the vote in their seat races. The City Council District 3 race was tied between James Nealis and Aaron Bowman. Both Referendum 1 and Straw Ballot 1 passed.

The March 24th ballot will be long with two referendums and almost every elected seat, many to replace incumbents being termed out. Each voter will have from 30 to 36 candidates on their ballot - regardless of the voter's party affiliation.
An overwhelming number of attendees and candidates expressed their gratitude to the First Coast Tea Party for this opportunity to learn about the candidates vying for the 19 seats on the ballot. The event was held in the Auditorium of the Jacksonville Salem Center.

Straw ballots are intended to be an informal poll. Often, people only vote the races they are familiar with, although nothing restricts their complete participation. The Duval Supervisor of Elections, Jerry Holland, was the moderator of the event and provided oversight to the Tabulation Team for the ballot count.
The results of this Straw Poll are shown below:

Mayor
Lenny Curry 61%
Bill Bishop 21%
Alvin Brown 13%
Omega Allen 5%

Sheriff
Jimmy Holderfield 37%
Jay Farhat 23%
Mike Williams 17%
Ken Jefferson 12%
Rob Schoonover 7%
Tony Cummings 3%
Lonnie McDonald 1%

Supervisor of Elections
Mike Hogan 76%
Tracie Davis 24%

Council-At-Large, Group One
Anna Lopez Brosche 41%
David A. Taylor 27%
Kimberly Daniels 26%
Terry Reed 6%

Council-At-Large, Group Two
David Barron 63%
John R. Crescimbeni 23%
Theresa Graham 14%

Council-At-Large, Group Three
Geoff Youngblood 65%
Tommy Hazouri 29%
Mincy "Praya" Pollock 6%

Council-At-Large, Group Four
Greg Anderson 84%
Juanita Powell-Williams 16%

Council-At-Large, Group Five
Samuel C. Newby 46%
Michelle Tappouni 32%
Ju'Coby Pittman 22%

City Council, District One
Mike Anania 46%
Joyce Morgan 28%
Eddie Christian 20%
Melody Shacter 6%

City Council, District Two
Al Ferraro 41%
Jack Daniels 32%
Lisa King 27%

City Council, District Three
Aaron Bowman 50%
James Nealis 50%

City Council, District Four
Scott Wilson 43%
Ryan A. Taylor 32%
Ramon Day 16%
Fred Engness 9%

City Council, District Six
Matt Schellenberg 67%
Connie Benham 33%

City Council, District Seven
Niki Brunson 36%
Reggie Gaffney 26%
Donald Foy 16%
George A. Spencer, Jr 6%
Sirretta Williams 6%
Wendell Sams 5%
James Eddy 4%
Marc A. McCullough, Sr. 1%

City Council, District Eight
Terry L. Fields 31%
Pat Lockett-Felder 24%
James M. Breaker 19%
Lynn Sherman 15%
Katrina Brown 11%

City Council, District Nine
Glorious Johnson 59%
Garrett Dennis 41%

City Council, District Ten
Reginald "Reggie" Brown 50%
Joseph Willis 26%
Celestine Mills 24%

City Council, District Twelve
Doyle Carter 85%
Abner Davis 15%

City Council, District Fourteen
Jim Love 87%
Jason Tetlak 13%

Referendum 1     Straw Ballot 1
Yes 52%       Yes 57%
No 48%       No 43%

Referendum 1 Ballot Summary: Shall Ordinance 2014-747-E, which amends the Jacksonville Charter by extending the jurisdiction of the city's ethics code and inspector general's office to also cover the city's independent agencies and constitutional officers; providing for (2) investigation and oversight of city transactions, (3) administrative sharing, and agreements, (4), independent legal counsel, (5), investigation accreditations (6) independent selection and removal (7) January 1, 2016 effective date and (8) severability, become effective?

Straw Ballot 1 Ballot Summary: Should the City of Jacksonville City Council support and enact legislation to require that all City employees, appointees, employees of independent agencies (not including Duval County School Board), and employees of constitutional officers hired after January 1, 2016, reside within the boundaries of Duval County during the term of their employment or appointment?

Beth Heath
Election Team Leader
Small Business Advocates Co-Leader
First Coast Tea Party