The Democrat has to reach out to moderates on both sides in mayor's race.
Posted: April 22, 2011 - 12:00am
By Timothy J. Gibbons
At a news conference a few weeks ago, Jacksonville mayoral candidate Alvin Brown repeated a line he's used throughout his campaign.
"Government can't create jobs," he said, adding that it's something the private sector needs to do.
A moment later, U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown stepped to the microphone, fuming over the governor's recent decision to reject $432 million in high-speed rail funding.
"Government can create jobs," she said, referring to the workers a rail project would hire.
Having different approaches is nothing new for the two Browns, who are not related: Alvin Brown's first foray into Jacksonville politics was running against Corrine Brown in 1994.
Like most of the city's Democratic establishment, though, the congresswoman strongly supports Brown, who's vying to become the first Democrat elected mayor in 20 years.
Now, Brown's challenge is to balance support from the party supporting him and the need to win crossover votes in a Republican-leaning town.
"All voters — Republican and Democratic and independent — care about quality education, about balancing the budget," he said. "The message is we're all in this together."
That effort got a boost last week when Republican fundraiser Peter Rummell announced he was supporting Brown, pledging to raise $300,000 for the campaign. On the other hand, as of the last filing period, about half of the money Brown raised came directly from the state Democratic Party, which is paying for his staff.
Read more at Jacksonville.com: http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2011-04-22/story/alvin-brown-finds-d-after-your-name-complicates-jacksonville-mayor-run#ixzz1KFb5vUXd
