Is there a shift in the political landscape in Jacksonville? The Tributary’s Andrew Pantazi joins Mike On Mic

[00:00:01] [SPEAKER_01]: Mike Mike Mike Mike Mike Mike's on mic a conversation about politics government

[00:00:08] [SPEAKER_01]: and Jacksonville with 50-year opinion leaders Mike Hightower Mike Tolbert an

[00:00:14] [SPEAKER_01]: award-winning broadcaster and longtime political observer Mike Miller welcome

[00:00:18] [SPEAKER_02]: to another episode of Mike's on mic I'm Mike Miller here in studio my

[00:00:21] [SPEAKER_02]: colleagues Mike Tolbert Mike Hightower are at the respective remote locations

[00:00:25] [SPEAKER_02]: but we're glad to be with you today we think you're gonna like the next

[00:00:29] [SPEAKER_02]: Our guest today is our great friend Andrew Pantazi the editor of the

[00:00:34] [SPEAKER_02]: Jacksonville Tributary former Times Union reporter and an investigative

[00:00:38] [SPEAKER_02]: journalist as well there's a lot we got to and we've got to talk about

[00:00:42] [SPEAKER_02]: here today Andrew and we want to focus of course on recently completed

[00:00:47] [SPEAKER_02]: primary election and the expectations for the general election coming up in

[00:00:50] [SPEAKER_02]: November so welcome back to Mike's on Mic great to have you here thank you

[00:00:54] [SPEAKER_02]: for joining us as always I'm really glad to be here thank you and mr.

[00:00:58] [SPEAKER_02]: Tolbert's gonna kick it off for us

[00:01:01] [SPEAKER_03]: Andrew thanks for joining us it's really good to see you you know we just had an

[00:01:05] [SPEAKER_03]: election primary election on August the 20th and I'm wondering if anything

[00:01:11] [SPEAKER_03]: happened in that election that surprised you or is there anything

[00:01:14] [SPEAKER_00]: that stood out to you yeah I definitely think locally we did see two

[00:01:20] [SPEAKER_00]: school board races decided in favor of candidates who'd been endorsed by

[00:01:25] [SPEAKER_00]: governor DeSantis and moms for Liberty which brings the number of school board

[00:01:31] [SPEAKER_00]: members out of the seven up to four who are more aligned with DeSantis

[00:01:35] [SPEAKER_00]: that had been a primary target for the governor we saw the former mom's

[00:01:40] [SPEAKER_00]: for Liberty chair in the most expensive race covering much of Sam

[00:01:44] [SPEAKER_00]: Marco and the south side did lose to incumbent Cindy Pearson and that

[00:01:52] [SPEAKER_00]: been of the races the biggest target for conservative more right-wing groups

[00:01:59] [SPEAKER_00]: who are trying to target Cindy Pearson who is more moderate Republican and then

[00:02:05] [SPEAKER_00]: on the west side we saw a runoff between Reggie Blount and Hank Rogers

[00:02:11] [SPEAKER_00]: in another race that conservatives had targeted for who's going to succeed

[00:02:15] [SPEAKER_00]: Warren Jones we also saw a circuit judge race that was really fascinating

[00:02:19] [SPEAKER_00]: because it's the first time I've been covering judicial races for more than

[00:02:23] [SPEAKER_00]: 12 years in Jacksonville and I've never seen a Jacksonville judicial

[00:02:28] [SPEAKER_00]: race that was like this where there was explicit partisanship there were

[00:02:34] [SPEAKER_00]: mailers that went out that identified the party of one of the candidates

[00:02:39] [SPEAKER_00]: and said you in big bold letters you can't trust her it was very

[00:02:46] [SPEAKER_00]: different than any judicial race I'd seen before and the candidate who had

[00:02:51] [SPEAKER_00]: been advertising herself as a conservative and advertising herself in

[00:02:55] [SPEAKER_00]: more partisan ways lost that race and so that I think a lot of judges

[00:03:00] [SPEAKER_00]: breathed a sigh of relief a lot of judges were worried that this could

[00:03:04] [SPEAKER_00]: portend a new vision of judicial campaigning and the fact that the

[00:03:09] [SPEAKER_00]: person who was much less political in her campaigning or much less

[00:03:14] [SPEAKER_00]: partisan I should say in her campaigning won I think for more

[00:03:19] [SPEAKER_00]: institutionalists who would rather see the judiciary stay above partisan

[00:03:23] [SPEAKER_02]: politics we're quite happy with speaking of which before we move on I

[00:03:28] [SPEAKER_02]: want to ask this I always thought that when you're talking about

[00:03:33] [SPEAKER_02]: judicial races that the rules either by law or by the nature of the

[00:03:38] [SPEAKER_02]: of the position kind of tempers down the way campaigns are run there

[00:03:43] [SPEAKER_02]: a lot of things that can't be done as I understand it I mean I'll give you an

[00:03:47] [SPEAKER_02]: example when an Audrey Moran for instance was running for mayor years

[00:03:52] [SPEAKER_02]: ago her husband John who's a judge was not allowed to do campaigning with her

[00:03:58] [SPEAKER_02]: that there's very strict rules now is that law or is that just some kind of

[00:04:03] [SPEAKER_00]: code of conduct or something of that sort so there's the judicial ethics

[00:04:07] [SPEAKER_00]: and the judicial cannons which govern how judges are to behave and

[00:04:13] [SPEAKER_00]: they come down from the Florida Supreme Court and the judicial cannons say you

[00:04:18] [SPEAKER_00]: can't be partisan you can't be expressing political ideology or

[00:04:24] [SPEAKER_00]: political ideas but what they said recently the Florida Supreme Court

[00:04:28] [SPEAKER_00]: they didn't change the rules at all they just said those rules don't mean

[00:04:31] [SPEAKER_00]: you can't say conservative because that is not a political ideology that

[00:04:35] [SPEAKER_00]: is a judicial ideology really and so when someone describes themselves as

[00:04:39] [SPEAKER_00]: the only lifelong conservative in the race that means that that person is a

[00:04:43] [SPEAKER_00]: lifelong judicial conservative since they were a child they were thinking

[00:04:47] [SPEAKER_00]: judicial judicially I am a conservative here's my legal philosophy

[00:04:51] [SPEAKER_00]: ever since childhood and that that's how they interpret the phrase

[00:04:55] [SPEAKER_00]: conservative that it is not a political phrase and so we saw this

[00:04:59] [SPEAKER_03]: anyway to know what anyway to another consultant for the candidate

[00:05:03] [SPEAKER_03]: that lost a judicial candidate that went low and lost I don't know who the

[00:05:10] [SPEAKER_00]: official consultant was for the candidate but there was a political

[00:05:15] [SPEAKER_00]: committee that was using the same address that a lot of these

[00:05:20] [SPEAKER_00]: conservative candidates a lot of the Tim Baker candidates use it's the

[00:05:25] [SPEAKER_00]: political committees all use one of you know three different addresses in

[00:05:29] [SPEAKER_00]: either Tallahassee or Gainesville and this was using one of those addresses

[00:05:33] [SPEAKER_00]: that's commonly associated with the Republican establishment here

[00:05:39] [SPEAKER_04]: it's all the same people then yeah go ahead my high tower well talking

[00:05:44] [SPEAKER_04]: well one Andrew welcome back you sorry I can't be with you welcome back by the way our

[00:05:52] [SPEAKER_04]: good friend Nate Monroe wrote lately that wrote an article that the title

[00:05:58] [SPEAKER_04]: was DeSantis is out of juice in that article talking about school board

[00:06:05] [SPEAKER_04]: DeSantis was involved in 23 school board races throughout the state 11 of

[00:06:12] [SPEAKER_04]: the 23 his candidate lost six six got elected but six are now in a runoff my

[00:06:23] [SPEAKER_04]: question to you is is the DeSantis glow flickering or is it dimming?

[00:06:30] [SPEAKER_00]: I definitely think the results were dimming for the governor we saw not

[00:06:36] [SPEAKER_00]: just school board races we also saw I believe it was two or three of the

[00:06:40] [SPEAKER_00]: supervisors of election that he has appointed lost their races we saw a

[00:06:48] [SPEAKER_00]: lot of the school board candidates were also people who he had appointed to

[00:06:53] [SPEAKER_00]: fill positions and so they had the power of incumbency and still they lost

[00:06:58] [SPEAKER_00]: we saw in places you know in conservative places like Sarasota

[00:07:04] [SPEAKER_00]: County and across the state we saw Lake County the supervisor of

[00:07:10] [SPEAKER_00]: elections there the incumbent won against an election denier we saw

[00:07:14] [SPEAKER_00]: across the state pretty dismal results even in conservative areas so that

[00:07:21] [SPEAKER_00]: tells me that people I mean a good example locally Baker County had a

[00:07:26] [SPEAKER_00]: judge who was appointed by the governor and she's the wife of some I

[00:07:33] [SPEAKER_00]: forget who the politician is that she's the wife of but she was also

[00:07:38] [SPEAKER_00]: up and she was up against a public defender and in Baker County that's

[00:07:42] [SPEAKER_00]: typically who you would imagine to be the type of candidate running for

[00:07:47] [SPEAKER_00]: county judge and she lost her race and that's very rare to see an appointed

[00:07:51] [SPEAKER_00]: judge lose their race for county judge and so I think we're seeing across the

[00:07:57] [SPEAKER_00]: state some candidates losing it may be reflective of the governor choosing

[00:08:02] [SPEAKER_00]: and appointing and endorsing people who are not locally connected or people

[00:08:07] [SPEAKER_00]: have a strong of local ties and I think that even in conservative places that

[00:08:13] [SPEAKER_00]: will vote for the governor in a gubernatorial race they still have a

[00:08:17] [SPEAKER_00]: sense of local pride or a sense of you know we care more about local issues

[00:08:21] [SPEAKER_00]: than state or national issues and that definitely came through and in these

[00:08:26] [SPEAKER_02]: races yeah I think the most I'm sorry go ahead picking up on that let

[00:08:31] [SPEAKER_04]: me if I can ask a little bit more he's got two more sessions and you

[00:08:37] [SPEAKER_04]: know and you've reported on this both you and Nate you know he pretty much got

[00:08:41] [SPEAKER_04]: anything he wanted out of the first six sessions he's now a lame duck he's got

[00:08:47] [SPEAKER_04]: two more legislative sessions what do you think what's that look like and

[00:08:52] [SPEAKER_04]: then to pick up on what you just said what does that look like for the

[00:08:57] [SPEAKER_04]: governor's the new governor's race which is 206 where he will be out of

[00:09:02] [SPEAKER_04]: this do you see where you see the how the legislative leadership is going to

[00:09:07] [SPEAKER_04]: support him or allow him to do what he wants or you know the 2026 governor's

[00:09:14] [SPEAKER_04]: race is gonna gonna start real quick where you see DeSantis and all this

[00:09:19] [SPEAKER_00]: yeah I have to say I'm very surprised the governor two years ago won by 20

[00:09:25] [SPEAKER_00]: points the the largest Republican majority since reconstruction it was a

[00:09:32] [SPEAKER_00]: historic and enormous political victory for the governor and he got two-thirds

[00:09:38] [SPEAKER_00]: majorities in the House and Senate which meant he could approve public

[00:09:43] [SPEAKER_00]: records exemptions without any Democratic votes and he could approve

[00:09:46] [SPEAKER_00]: constitutional amendments to go on the ballot I'm honestly a bit

[00:09:50] [SPEAKER_00]: surprised he didn't go for more wide sweeping changes in these last two

[00:09:55] [SPEAKER_00]: years particularly on the constitutional amendment front they did put some

[00:10:00] [SPEAKER_00]: that are on the ballot this year but I'm surprised that he did not push through

[00:10:04] [SPEAKER_00]: more conservative policy or more systemic change to Florida's government

[00:10:09] [SPEAKER_00]: through that process and now we're facing an election where polls show

[00:10:15] [SPEAKER_00]: Donald Trump and Kamala Harris while Trump is still clearly favored in

[00:10:19] [SPEAKER_00]: Florida it's much closer than the 20-point victory and I think it's

[00:10:23] [SPEAKER_00]: quite likely he loses those two-thirds majorities and losing

[00:10:27] [SPEAKER_00]: those means he's now not going to be able to push through quite as wide

[00:10:32] [SPEAKER_00]: sweeping of changes he'll still get legislation but the constitutional

[00:10:37] [SPEAKER_00]: amendments I think are gonna be more off the table for him I do think we're

[00:10:42] [SPEAKER_00]: seeing the legislature start to get a backbone we saw this with the

[00:10:46] [SPEAKER_00]: proposal to give away state parks to developers very quick bipartisan

[00:10:54] [SPEAKER_00]: majority legislative leaders Republicans and Democrats congressional

[00:10:59] [SPEAKER_00]: representatives across the state denouncing this effort it's something

[00:11:03] [SPEAKER_00]: that then governor Rick Scott had proposed at one point and quickly

[00:11:08] [SPEAKER_00]: back down from and I think we're seeing a weird shift from the governor

[00:11:14] [SPEAKER_00]: where he he seems out of touch with what's popular in the state I think

[00:11:18] [SPEAKER_00]: his first two years in office he pushed through a lot of popular

[00:11:22] [SPEAKER_00]: things like making a cannabis smokeable for the medical marijuana we saw some

[00:11:27] [SPEAKER_00]: environmental changes we saw the pardoning of the Groveland for we saw

[00:11:32] [SPEAKER_00]: a number of things that he was doing that seemed like common sense these

[00:11:35] [SPEAKER_00]: are things that everybody supports and since then I feel like we've seen

[00:11:39] [SPEAKER_00]: just a slow erosion of this connection to what do actual Floridians want and

[00:11:45] [SPEAKER_00]: the state parks I don't think there's many Floridians out there clamoring

[00:11:49] [SPEAKER_00]: to give up state parkland to developers not to put in a resort certainly in

[00:11:55] [SPEAKER_02]: pickleball courts no yeah and that's what they're expecting that's what

[00:11:58] [SPEAKER_02]: they're thinking about doing for anastasia parkers yeah basically

[00:12:01] [SPEAKER_00]: privatizing Anastasia State Park with you know a private resort that is

[00:12:05] [SPEAKER_02]: on public land you know one other election if I can throw this in

[00:12:08] [SPEAKER_02]: that I found to be the most fascinating of all was that state

[00:12:11] [SPEAKER_02]: senate race where you actually you had the endorsement of the Santas on one

[00:12:18] [SPEAKER_02]: and the endorsement of Trump on the other and I mean that that was an

[00:12:24] [SPEAKER_02]: interesting race they sure spent a lot of money on that boy heaven and the

[00:12:28] [SPEAKER_00]: DeSantis endorsed candidate one there but part of the result of things like

[00:12:33] [SPEAKER_00]: that are you get more bad blood between the governor and former

[00:12:37] [SPEAKER_00]: President Trump who may be elected again and having you know they've got

[00:12:42] [SPEAKER_00]: a tentative relationship right now coming out of a damaging presidential

[00:12:47] [SPEAKER_00]: primary if that continues then you could see more direct opposition or

[00:12:54] [SPEAKER_00]: direct fighting between the two of them and we see right now you mentioned the

[00:12:58] [SPEAKER_00]: 2026 race congressman gates beat back a primary of his own he's one of the

[00:13:05] [SPEAKER_00]: leading potential candidates as is congressman Byron Donalds both of them

[00:13:09] [SPEAKER_00]: are fierce Trump allies they supported Trump over DeSantis I think that if

[00:13:15] [SPEAKER_00]: they are seen as the rising Republican stars in Florida if people start

[00:13:19] [SPEAKER_00]: following them they could very easily take fights against DeSantis as a easy

[00:13:24] [SPEAKER_00]: win to say look we're not bought by developers or we're not you know

[00:13:29] [SPEAKER_00]: bought by the same special interests I think that Matt gates has a

[00:13:34] [SPEAKER_00]: populist firebrand streak in him I think he understands more what polls

[00:13:39] [SPEAKER_00]: well and I think that you could see him taking fights to DeSantis as a way to

[00:13:45] [SPEAKER_00]: try to separate himself for the potential 2026 race you know you

[00:13:50] [SPEAKER_02]: mentioned earlier some of the other races in school board and you touched

[00:13:54] [SPEAKER_02]: about the one about Becky Nathanson narrowly lost to Cindy Pearson this

[00:13:58] [SPEAKER_02]: was a repudiation of moms for liberty what happened there why do you

[00:14:02] [SPEAKER_02]: think was it the power of the incumbency do you think that that

[00:14:05] [SPEAKER_00]: put them over the top I think I said this to you guys after the mayoral

[00:14:11] [SPEAKER_00]: race but I think we've seen a type of campaigning in Jacksonville that has

[00:14:17] [SPEAKER_00]: been led by the strong political consultant class for Republican

[00:14:22] [SPEAKER_00]: candidates who really believe that if you have more money and if you have

[00:14:27] [SPEAKER_00]: more mailers that that's going to win an election for you and that it all

[00:14:31] [SPEAKER_00]: comes down to TV ads radio ads and mailers in that there's been a

[00:14:36] [SPEAKER_00]: neglecting of canvassing and the ground game in favor of that and I

[00:14:42] [SPEAKER_00]: think that also includes going to different groups that are holding

[00:14:45] [SPEAKER_00]: forums Becky Nathanson did not come to a forum that we hosted with the

[00:14:51] [SPEAKER_00]: Jacksonville Public Education Fund and a bunch of other nonprofits despite

[00:14:56] [SPEAKER_00]: the fact that we arrange the time around her schedule we change the

[00:15:00] [SPEAKER_00]: format of the forum after she requested because we were really dedicated to

[00:15:06] [SPEAKER_00]: trying to get her to come and then she she ghosted and flaked on us and I

[00:15:10] [SPEAKER_00]: think she did that to a number of other organizations unless it was a

[00:15:13] [SPEAKER_00]: friendly crowd which means people who are already going to vote for her she

[00:15:17] [SPEAKER_00]: wasn't showing up the problem with that is there are people who don't

[00:15:21] [SPEAKER_00]: know how they're gonna vote in a school board race especially a school

[00:15:24] [SPEAKER_00]: board race these these are the type of voters where someone can be

[00:15:27] [SPEAKER_00]: persuaded by either side and if you're only willing to go to your supporters

[00:15:31] [SPEAKER_00]: you're not expanding your base and mailers alone is not enough to get

[00:15:37] [SPEAKER_00]: people I think you have to be willing to show your face be willing to face

[00:15:41] [SPEAKER_00]: hard questions and be willing to meet voters well we'll save some of this

[00:15:46] [SPEAKER_02]: for the postmortem of the national election coming up in November but

[00:15:50] [SPEAKER_02]: that can be said about even the national level of politics as well the

[00:15:53] [SPEAKER_02]: ground game is so important and it's not being utilized as well as it

[00:15:57] [SPEAKER_02]: has been in the past anyhow let us move on mr. trobert I think you're up next

[00:16:03] [SPEAKER_03]: yeah Andrew before we move on to the general election I want to ask you

[00:16:07] [SPEAKER_03]: about the Angie Nixon bring me priestly Jackson race I'm Facebook

[00:16:12] [SPEAKER_03]: friends with Angie but I don't really know her well I know Brenda real

[00:16:17] [SPEAKER_03]: well

[00:16:18] [SPEAKER_03]: Brenda you know I thought she was a great member of the city council I

[00:16:23] [SPEAKER_03]: she did a great job on the school board I know at one point instead of

[00:16:29] [SPEAKER_03]: running for reelection to her district in 2023 she was thinking about

[00:16:35] [SPEAKER_03]: running at large because she was had an ambition to run for mayor and

[00:16:41] [SPEAKER_03]: she and I had conversations with her about this she thought that if she

[00:16:44] [SPEAKER_03]: ran at large and served at large it would expand her base it would

[00:16:49] [SPEAKER_03]: expand her reach and give her a better opportunity then she ended up

[00:16:52] [SPEAKER_03]: in either one of those things she didn't run for reelection to her

[00:16:56] [SPEAKER_03]: district or at large why the hell caused her to get in the race with

[00:17:01] [SPEAKER_03]: Angie and then lose Angie gets 80 percent of the vote how did that

[00:17:06] [SPEAKER_00]: happen I think it's a lot of personal grievance

[00:17:10] [SPEAKER_00]: former councilwoman former school board member priestly Jackson

[00:17:15] [SPEAKER_00]: as you said initially wanted to run at large did not raise any money

[00:17:20] [SPEAKER_00]: outside of a couple of donations from Reggie Gaffney and Matt Carlucci

[00:17:25] [SPEAKER_00]: and then with the district I think that she had very sour relationship

[00:17:31] [SPEAKER_00]: with the neighborhood groups that were in her district there's a lot

[00:17:37] [SPEAKER_00]: of neighborhood associations that really disliked her in her role as

[00:17:42] [SPEAKER_00]: a district council woman and I think that she the feeling was mutual and

[00:17:47] [SPEAKER_00]: I think that was apparent when she would meet with them I think that

[00:17:52] [SPEAKER_00]: she is certain of what she believes and so is unyielding in that

[00:17:58] [SPEAKER_00]: way which can be a very good thing but it can also be a very

[00:18:01] [SPEAKER_00]: tough thing politically when it came to this specific race a lot

[00:18:06] [SPEAKER_00]: of it comes back to the city council redistricting so Brenda priestly

[00:18:09] [SPEAKER_00]: Jackson oversaw a lot of the redistricting when the redistricting

[00:18:13] [SPEAKER_00]: was happening Aaron Bowman was the official chair of it but he said

[00:18:18] [SPEAKER_00]: we're going to let member to member this is going to happen you know

[00:18:21] [SPEAKER_00]: and we're going to kind of divide up south and east of the river

[00:18:24] [SPEAKER_00]: and north and west of the river and Brenda led those meetings

[00:18:27] [SPEAKER_00]: for the north and west of the river and those were the

[00:18:29] [SPEAKER_00]: districts that were racially gerrymandered and when she was

[00:18:32] [SPEAKER_00]: being confronted with this by the NAACP by the North Side Coalition

[00:18:36] [SPEAKER_00]: of Jacksonville by our own reporting at the tributary she became

[00:18:39] [SPEAKER_00]: very, very defensive and she became very aggressive in the way

[00:18:44] [SPEAKER_00]: that she responded to the NAACP that she was I think at times

[00:18:49] [SPEAKER_00]: insulting to the NAACP in her response and at one point while

[00:18:54] [SPEAKER_00]: she was tweeting actually she was tweeting insults about myself

[00:18:58] [SPEAKER_00]: and the reporting that I'd been doing Angie Nixon replied saying

[00:19:03] [SPEAKER_00]: the reporting was solid and that's when Brenda started to

[00:19:07] [SPEAKER_00]: those tweets and attack Angie Nixon saying that she was a bad

[00:19:12] [SPEAKER_00]: representative for the area during this race her primary

[00:19:16] [SPEAKER_00]: argument was that Angie Nixon has focused too much on fighting

[00:19:21] [SPEAKER_00]: the governor on being in opposition to Governor DeSantis

[00:19:26] [SPEAKER_00]: and not enough on constituent services or not enough on

[00:19:30] [SPEAKER_00]: bringing money back debating constituent services is really

[00:19:35] [SPEAKER_00]: hard as a journalist I can say I've not heard complaints from

[00:19:40] [SPEAKER_00]: constituents saying that they've contacted the office and

[00:19:44] [SPEAKER_00]: not been able to get help those were complaints I heard

[00:19:47] [SPEAKER_00]: very frequently while Brenda Preecey-Jackson was a

[00:19:50] [SPEAKER_00]: councilwoman and so I think that is a big factor is are

[00:19:53] [SPEAKER_00]: you again this goes to the ground game question are you

[00:19:56] [SPEAKER_00]: listening to people are you in touch with where people are

[00:19:58] [SPEAKER_00]: at and I think people in that district don't mind Angie

[00:20:02] [SPEAKER_00]: Nixon being placed in the basement of the Capitol

[00:20:05] [SPEAKER_00]: building and you know not maybe being able to pass as

[00:20:08] [SPEAKER_00]: much legislation knowing that she is the loudest opposition

[00:20:12] [SPEAKER_00]: to the governor when the governor vetoed the redistricting

[00:20:16] [SPEAKER_00]: plan that and eliminated the congressional district that had

[00:20:19] [SPEAKER_00]: been around since 1992 that allowed black representation

[00:20:22] [SPEAKER_00]: for North Florida Angie Nixon's the one who let us

[00:20:25] [SPEAKER_00]: sit in protest and she was punished for it but I don't

[00:20:28] [SPEAKER_00]: think people mind the punishment when you know you

[00:20:31] [SPEAKER_00]: can look at the alternative as Kim Daniels who did much

[00:20:35] [SPEAKER_00]: less well in her own primary against a much less funded

[00:20:40] [SPEAKER_00]: and supported opposition.

[00:20:43] [SPEAKER_00]: Kim Daniels can get a lot of legislation passed she got

[00:20:46] [SPEAKER_00]: passed the removing school counselors and replacing them

[00:20:49] [SPEAKER_00]: with chaplains she got passed teaching the Bible in

[00:20:53] [SPEAKER_00]: schools she's been you know the face of a lot of

[00:20:57] [SPEAKER_00]: abortion restrictions she's been the face of a lot of

[00:21:00] [SPEAKER_00]: charter school issues and so if you want to say the

[00:21:04] [SPEAKER_00]: judge of a state representative is how much

[00:21:06] [SPEAKER_00]: legislation they get passed.

[00:21:09] [SPEAKER_00]: You can have a conservative Democrat who gets a lot

[00:21:11] [SPEAKER_00]: of legislation passed but that might not be the

[00:21:14] [SPEAKER_00]: legislation that their Democratic voters actually

[00:21:17] [SPEAKER_00]: want and I think that was the argument that Angie

[00:21:20] [SPEAKER_00]: made and clearly the voters agreed with her.

[00:21:24] [SPEAKER_04]: Mr. Hightower clearly that was fascinating thank

[00:21:28] [SPEAKER_04]: you.

[00:21:32] [SPEAKER_04]: You touched on it a little bit and let's talk about

[00:21:35] [SPEAKER_04]: the general election in November since Vice President

[00:21:39] [SPEAKER_04]: Harris has replaced President Biden Democrats seem

[00:21:43] [SPEAKER_04]: to have renewed have a renewed energy about their

[00:21:46] [SPEAKER_04]: chances to win I'm wondering if you are seeing any

[00:21:50] [SPEAKER_04]: kind of changes in Red Duval with Democratic

[00:21:55] [SPEAKER_04]: momentum and if so what at this point.

[00:21:59] [SPEAKER_00]: So I haven't looked at voter registration to see if

[00:22:02] [SPEAKER_00]: we've seen any signs there.

[00:22:04] [SPEAKER_00]: I do think what we've seen in polling that's come

[00:22:07] [SPEAKER_00]: out for statewide polling we've seen that the

[00:22:10] [SPEAKER_00]: race is tighter but still Donald Trump has a clear

[00:22:15] [SPEAKER_00]: lead three four point lead consistently in every

[00:22:21] [SPEAKER_00]: poll there's not really any polling that shows

[00:22:23] [SPEAKER_00]: him losing in Florida.

[00:22:25] [SPEAKER_00]: I do think we have seen a shift statewide whether

[00:22:29] [SPEAKER_00]: that shift is permanent or not and whether it can

[00:22:30] [SPEAKER_00]: be held close or not will remain to be seen.

[00:22:36] [SPEAKER_00]: I also think again the down ballot effects of

[00:22:39] [SPEAKER_00]: having a close race versus a 20 point victory

[00:22:42] [SPEAKER_00]: are very obvious Duval still regardless if the

[00:22:48] [SPEAKER_00]: state continues shifting to the right Duval has

[00:22:51] [SPEAKER_00]: moved to the left of the state and that is new.

[00:22:54] [SPEAKER_00]: That's new in my lifetime you know I can remember

[00:22:57] [SPEAKER_00]: 2000 and 2004 when we were 16 17 points for

[00:23:01] [SPEAKER_00]: George W Bush and what were obviously very

[00:23:04] [SPEAKER_00]: close races.

[00:23:05] [SPEAKER_00]: We are now definitely to the left of the

[00:23:08] [SPEAKER_00]: states even if Republicans win Duval this year

[00:23:13] [SPEAKER_00]: I am fairly certain that we will be to the

[00:23:15] [SPEAKER_00]: left of the statewide average.

[00:23:17] [SPEAKER_00]: I also think we'll have to see what happens

[00:23:21] [SPEAKER_00]: in terms of campaigning is Harris's team

[00:23:24] [SPEAKER_00]: willing to spend as much money as it takes to

[00:23:27] [SPEAKER_00]: campaign in Florida.

[00:23:28] [SPEAKER_00]: We're a really tough state to campaign in

[00:23:30] [SPEAKER_00]: because you're not campaigning in one state

[00:23:32] [SPEAKER_00]: you're campaigning in seven states.

[00:23:34] [SPEAKER_00]: The way you campaign in Jacksonville is

[00:23:36] [SPEAKER_00]: different than Orlando or Tampa or Miami or

[00:23:39] [SPEAKER_00]: even Broward and Palm Beach are so different

[00:23:41] [SPEAKER_00]: from one another.

[00:23:43] [SPEAKER_00]: But I could see if there was one part of

[00:23:47] [SPEAKER_00]: the state that makes more sense to campaign

[00:23:49] [SPEAKER_00]: the benefit of Jacksonville is that Georgia

[00:23:51] [SPEAKER_00]: is a battleground state and if you come to

[00:23:53] [SPEAKER_00]: Jacksonville you get some spillover effects

[00:23:55] [SPEAKER_00]: someone's going to drive from Savannah to go

[00:23:57] [SPEAKER_00]: here.

[00:23:58] [SPEAKER_00]: Rafael Warnock and Tim Wall speak at a

[00:24:01] [SPEAKER_00]: Jacksonville event or Valdosta.

[00:24:04] [SPEAKER_00]: You can get more spillover and vice versa

[00:24:06] [SPEAKER_00]: if they're in Savannah you might get

[00:24:08] [SPEAKER_00]: people from Jacksonville willing to drive up

[00:24:10] [SPEAKER_00]: and boost the momentum.

[00:24:12] [SPEAKER_02]: And I'm also wondering too in fact I was

[00:24:14] [SPEAKER_02]: listening to Chris Hand yesterday or Sunday

[00:24:17] [SPEAKER_02]: rather on this week in Jacksonville and he

[00:24:18] [SPEAKER_02]: was speaking about the referenda that are

[00:24:21] [SPEAKER_02]: on the two amendments.

[00:24:22] [SPEAKER_02]: And what he thought was that with the

[00:24:25] [SPEAKER_02]: abortion amendment this would codify

[00:24:26] [SPEAKER_02]: abortions in Florida and take away the

[00:24:28] [SPEAKER_02]: six week post six week ban if you will

[00:24:31] [SPEAKER_02]: and then establish a viability issue rather

[00:24:34] [SPEAKER_02]: than by a certain week.

[00:24:37] [SPEAKER_02]: He claimed that he thought the abortion

[00:24:39] [SPEAKER_02]: amendment which I believe is Amendment 3

[00:24:42] [SPEAKER_02]: is going to probably drive voters out to

[00:24:45] [SPEAKER_02]: come out to vote.

[00:24:47] [SPEAKER_02]: More so than what they would normally do.

[00:24:49] [SPEAKER_02]: He said and this was interesting the

[00:24:51] [SPEAKER_02]: marijuana one which is Amendment 4 to

[00:24:53] [SPEAKER_02]: legalize recreational marijuana in small

[00:24:56] [SPEAKER_02]: amounts.

[00:24:57] [SPEAKER_02]: He said that that is so bipartisan it's

[00:24:59] [SPEAKER_02]: hard to see which party might benefit

[00:25:03] [SPEAKER_02]: in a turnout when it comes to the

[00:25:04] [SPEAKER_02]: marijuana issue because there's so much

[00:25:06] [SPEAKER_02]: support.

[00:25:07] [SPEAKER_02]: I mean Michael Binder's latest poll

[00:25:10] [SPEAKER_02]: showed 69 percent in favor of the

[00:25:13] [SPEAKER_02]: marijuana issue while our 64 percent were

[00:25:16] [SPEAKER_02]: in favor of the abortion issue.

[00:25:17] [SPEAKER_02]: But that just tells you how broad the

[00:25:19] [SPEAKER_02]: appeal is for the marijuana issue

[00:25:21] [SPEAKER_02]: compared to other issues that are on

[00:25:23] [SPEAKER_02]: the ballot.

[00:25:24] [SPEAKER_02]: And you can't really I guess

[00:25:26] [SPEAKER_02]: prognosticate just what is that going

[00:25:28] [SPEAKER_02]: to mean for voter turnout.

[00:25:29] [SPEAKER_02]: It's much easier for the abortion one

[00:25:31] [SPEAKER_02]: than the marijuana one.

[00:25:32] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah I mean I agree on cannabis that

[00:25:35] [SPEAKER_00]: I don't think I mean I guess my point

[00:25:37] [SPEAKER_00]: would be more I don't think people vote

[00:25:39] [SPEAKER_00]: come out to vote because of cannabis

[00:25:41] [SPEAKER_00]: initiatives.

[00:25:42] [SPEAKER_00]: I don't think we've seen that.

[00:25:43] [SPEAKER_00]: I think cannabis is one of those issues

[00:25:46] [SPEAKER_00]: that has extremely high favorability.

[00:25:49] [SPEAKER_00]: People want to see it legalized but

[00:25:51] [SPEAKER_00]: low salience.

[00:25:52] [SPEAKER_00]: It's not a primary issue where people

[00:25:54] [SPEAKER_00]: like you know in the same way that

[00:25:55] [SPEAKER_00]: abortion is this is the reason I come

[00:25:57] [SPEAKER_00]: out to vote you know is to do this.

[00:25:59] [SPEAKER_00]: It's often a thing that people would

[00:26:01] [SPEAKER_00]: like to see but it's not something

[00:26:03] [SPEAKER_00]: that tends to motivate them to get

[00:26:05] [SPEAKER_00]: out to vote in quite the same way.

[00:26:07] [SPEAKER_00]: I actually think that's one of the

[00:26:08] [SPEAKER_00]: reasons Nikki Fried was able to get

[00:26:10] [SPEAKER_00]: elected in 2018 as agriculture

[00:26:12] [SPEAKER_00]: commissioner.

[00:26:13] [SPEAKER_00]: That was a low salience office.

[00:26:15] [SPEAKER_00]: I think there were a lot of

[00:26:16] [SPEAKER_00]: Republican voters and independent

[00:26:17] [SPEAKER_00]: voters who they get down to

[00:26:19] [SPEAKER_00]: agriculture commissioner and they're

[00:26:20] [SPEAKER_00]: like I don't care who the

[00:26:21] [SPEAKER_00]: agriculture commissioners but this

[00:26:22] [SPEAKER_00]: lady says she supports weed so I'll

[00:26:24] [SPEAKER_00]: vote for her.

[00:26:27] [SPEAKER_00]: I think that helps cannabis to pass.

[00:26:30] [SPEAKER_00]: I don't think that necessarily

[00:26:31] [SPEAKER_00]: helps with turnout.

[00:26:33] [SPEAKER_00]: Abortion is different.

[00:26:34] [SPEAKER_00]: I mean abortion is something that

[00:26:35] [SPEAKER_02]: motivates really emotional issue.

[00:26:37] [SPEAKER_02]: It's really an emotional issue much

[00:26:39] [SPEAKER_02]: more so than pot.

[00:26:40] [SPEAKER_00]: And it motivates people on both

[00:26:41] [SPEAKER_00]: sides.

[00:26:42] [SPEAKER_00]: I mean I think there's a lot of

[00:26:43] [SPEAKER_00]: people who maybe they would say I

[00:26:45] [SPEAKER_00]: find former President Trump

[00:26:47] [SPEAKER_00]: distasteful but they're very

[00:26:48] [SPEAKER_00]: conservative and this is the type

[00:26:50] [SPEAKER_00]: of thing that gets them out to

[00:26:52] [SPEAKER_00]: vote.

[00:26:52] [SPEAKER_00]: Just as I think it's true on

[00:26:53] [SPEAKER_00]: the opposite side.

[00:26:55] [SPEAKER_00]: People who maybe are not big

[00:26:58] [SPEAKER_00]: fans of Vice President Harris

[00:27:00] [SPEAKER_00]: but feel very motivated by

[00:27:02] [SPEAKER_00]: codifying the right to an

[00:27:03] [SPEAKER_00]: abortion.

[00:27:05] [SPEAKER_00]: We will see what happens.

[00:27:07] [SPEAKER_00]: We haven't seen the campaign

[00:27:09] [SPEAKER_00]: against abortion.

[00:27:12] [SPEAKER_00]: Ramp up quite yet but there is a

[00:27:14] [SPEAKER_00]: lot of money going into it.

[00:27:15] [SPEAKER_00]: And so we know there will be a

[00:27:17] [SPEAKER_00]: strong campaign against the

[00:27:18] [SPEAKER_00]: abortion issue.

[00:27:19] [SPEAKER_00]: And so that could also be

[00:27:22] [SPEAKER_00]: something that motivates the

[00:27:24] [SPEAKER_00]: presidential races again if

[00:27:26] [SPEAKER_00]: you're the Harris team and

[00:27:27] [SPEAKER_00]: you're like is it worth

[00:27:28] [SPEAKER_00]: spending all the money for

[00:27:29] [SPEAKER_00]: Florida when Florida is

[00:27:30] [SPEAKER_00]: moving to the right.

[00:27:31] [SPEAKER_00]: Maybe this is something where

[00:27:32] [SPEAKER_00]: you say we support abortion

[00:27:35] [SPEAKER_00]: rights and so we're going to

[00:27:36] [SPEAKER_00]: do this even if it doesn't

[00:27:37] [SPEAKER_00]: help our campaign just to try

[00:27:38] [SPEAKER_00]: to get this referendum across

[00:27:41] [SPEAKER_00]: the finish line.

[00:27:43] [SPEAKER_00]: Maybe that changes their

[00:27:44] [SPEAKER_00]: calculus and spending more

[00:27:45] [SPEAKER_00]: here and that ends up

[00:27:47] [SPEAKER_00]: boosting turnout as well.

[00:27:49] [SPEAKER_02]: Guys we're really running

[00:27:50] [SPEAKER_02]: late here and if it's OK with

[00:27:52] [SPEAKER_02]: you can I take a point of

[00:27:53] [SPEAKER_02]: personal privilege to let him

[00:27:54] [SPEAKER_02]: promote something on the

[00:27:55] [SPEAKER_02]: tributary.

[00:27:57] [SPEAKER_02]: You came out with this not

[00:27:58] [SPEAKER_02]: too long ago.

[00:28:00] [SPEAKER_02]: This having to do with a new

[00:28:02] [SPEAKER_02]: web based data tool program

[00:28:04] [SPEAKER_02]: that you're going to give

[00:28:05] [SPEAKER_02]: readers and elected

[00:28:08] [SPEAKER_02]: officials I guess and

[00:28:09] [SPEAKER_02]: journalists a little more

[00:28:11] [SPEAKER_02]: information to be able to

[00:28:12] [SPEAKER_02]: hold these elected officials

[00:28:14] [SPEAKER_02]: accountable.

[00:28:14] [SPEAKER_02]: Would you tell us a little

[00:28:15] [SPEAKER_02]: bit about that in about 30

[00:28:16] [SPEAKER_02]: seconds.

[00:28:17] [SPEAKER_00]: Absolutely.

[00:28:18] [SPEAKER_00]: We're in the final beta

[00:28:19] [SPEAKER_00]: testing we're going to be

[00:28:20] [SPEAKER_00]: releasing this next month but

[00:28:22] [SPEAKER_00]: this is a tool that will

[00:28:23] [SPEAKER_00]: allow people to see how

[00:28:25] [SPEAKER_00]: their legislators are actually

[00:28:26] [SPEAKER_00]: acting in Tallahassee.

[00:28:28] [SPEAKER_00]: Right now if you want to

[00:28:29] [SPEAKER_00]: know how your legislator

[00:28:30] [SPEAKER_00]: votes you can't find that

[00:28:31] [SPEAKER_00]: anywhere on the Internet.

[00:28:33] [SPEAKER_00]: This is going to actually

[00:28:35] [SPEAKER_00]: show you not just bill

[00:28:36] [SPEAKER_00]: sponsorships but actual

[00:28:37] [SPEAKER_00]: votes and how often your

[00:28:39] [SPEAKER_00]: legislator votes against

[00:28:40] [SPEAKER_00]: their party against both

[00:28:42] [SPEAKER_00]: parties or with both

[00:28:44] [SPEAKER_00]: parties or with their

[00:28:45] [SPEAKER_00]: party.

[00:28:45] [SPEAKER_00]: So it's going to give you a

[00:28:46] [SPEAKER_00]: sense of who are the

[00:28:47] [SPEAKER_00]: bipartisan who are the

[00:28:48] [SPEAKER_00]: independent who are you

[00:28:51] [SPEAKER_00]: know the conservative

[00:28:52] [SPEAKER_00]: Democrats or the liberal

[00:28:53] [SPEAKER_00]: Republicans and so on.

[00:28:55] [SPEAKER_00]: And I think that's going to

[00:28:56] [SPEAKER_00]: be really beneficial for

[00:28:57] [SPEAKER_00]: people to see are they in

[00:28:59] [SPEAKER_00]: line with what I with what

[00:29:01] [SPEAKER_00]: I believe if you want to

[00:29:02] [SPEAKER_00]: know how they voted on the

[00:29:03] [SPEAKER_00]: six week abortion ban or

[00:29:04] [SPEAKER_00]: anything else.

[00:29:06] [SPEAKER_04]: Well Andrew Andrew real

[00:29:08] [SPEAKER_04]: quick can you are you going

[00:29:10] [SPEAKER_04]: to do that for our local

[00:29:11] [SPEAKER_04]: city council.

[00:29:13] [SPEAKER_00]: That that was originally

[00:29:14] [SPEAKER_00]: the plan was this started

[00:29:16] [SPEAKER_00]: as a city council tool.

[00:29:18] [SPEAKER_00]: I ran into some problems

[00:29:19] [SPEAKER_00]: with the data and so I

[00:29:21] [SPEAKER_00]: was like let me try this

[00:29:22] [SPEAKER_00]: with the legislature first

[00:29:23] [SPEAKER_00]: because I think the data

[00:29:23] [SPEAKER_00]: is better.

[00:29:24] [SPEAKER_00]: And then after doing this

[00:29:26] [SPEAKER_00]: my goal is to release

[00:29:28] [SPEAKER_00]: this for city council.

[00:29:30] [SPEAKER_00]: All right good.

[00:29:31] [SPEAKER_04]: Anything we can do to

[00:29:32] [SPEAKER_00]: help you with that.

[00:29:33] [SPEAKER_00]: Thank you thank you.

[00:29:35] [SPEAKER_00]: Money if people could

[00:29:36] [SPEAKER_00]: donate to the tributary

[00:29:37] [SPEAKER_00]: it takes a lot of money

[00:29:38] [SPEAKER_00]: to build these tools.

[00:29:39] [SPEAKER_02]: We're putting up a slide

[00:29:41] [SPEAKER_02]: here at the end of the

[00:29:42] [SPEAKER_02]: program to show you how

[00:29:43] [SPEAKER_02]: you can get in touch with

[00:29:44] [SPEAKER_02]: the tributary and help

[00:29:45] [SPEAKER_02]: them stay going.

[00:29:47] [SPEAKER_02]: I mean I don't know what

[00:29:48] [SPEAKER_02]: we would be doing these

[00:29:49] [SPEAKER_02]: four different times that

[00:29:50] [SPEAKER_02]: we've had Andrew on

[00:29:52] [SPEAKER_02]: to help us with Mike's

[00:29:53] [SPEAKER_02]: on Mike but we really

[00:29:55] [SPEAKER_02]: want to help in the

[00:29:56] [SPEAKER_02]: support of the

[00:29:56] [SPEAKER_02]: tributary and we hope

[00:29:57] [SPEAKER_02]: that those who watch

[00:29:58] [SPEAKER_02]: and listen to our

[00:29:59] [SPEAKER_02]: program will do the

[00:30:00] [SPEAKER_02]: same.

[00:30:00] [SPEAKER_02]: So do take down the

[00:30:02] [SPEAKER_02]: information that's going

[00:30:02] [SPEAKER_02]: to be on your screen

[00:30:04] [SPEAKER_02]: for those of you who are

[00:30:05] [SPEAKER_02]: listening on Spotify

[00:30:06] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm sorry.

[00:30:08] [SPEAKER_00]: Jackstrib.org.

[00:30:09] [SPEAKER_02]: There you go.

[00:30:09] [SPEAKER_02]: That's all you have to do.

[00:30:10] [SPEAKER_02]: Guys thank you very much.

[00:30:12] [SPEAKER_02]: Thank you.

[00:30:12] [SPEAKER_02]: Andrew once again thank

[00:30:13] [SPEAKER_02]: you very very much.

[00:30:14] [SPEAKER_02]: It's been a pleasure.

[00:30:15] [SPEAKER_02]: We want to thank our

[00:30:16] [SPEAKER_02]: friends of course at

[00:30:17] [SPEAKER_02]: the Jacksonville History

[00:30:18] [SPEAKER_02]: Center which is the

[00:30:19] [SPEAKER_02]: Jacksonville Historical

[00:30:20] [SPEAKER_02]: Society for keeping the

[00:30:22] [SPEAKER_02]: lights on and the

[00:30:23] [SPEAKER_02]: cameras rolling and the

[00:30:24] [SPEAKER_02]: many donors who keep

[00:30:25] [SPEAKER_02]: the show on the air.

[00:30:26] [SPEAKER_02]: Thank you all for

[00:30:27] [SPEAKER_02]: joining us.

[00:30:27] [SPEAKER_02]: We hope you'll join us

[00:30:28] [SPEAKER_02]: again next week.

[00:30:29] [SPEAKER_02]: Take care.

[00:30:30] [SPEAKER_04]: Bye bye.

[00:30:30] [SPEAKER_04]: Y'all take care.

[00:30:31] [SPEAKER_04]: Bye bye.

[00:30:31] [SPEAKER_04]: Bye.

[00:30:33] [SPEAKER_01]: Mike's on Mike with

[00:30:34] [SPEAKER_01]: Mike Tolbert, Mike

[00:30:35] [SPEAKER_01]: Hightower and Mike

[00:30:36] [SPEAKER_01]: Miller can be found on

[00:30:37] [SPEAKER_01]: your favorite podcasting

[00:30:39] [SPEAKER_01]: platform, Facebook and

[00:30:40] [SPEAKER_01]: YouTube.

[00:30:41] [SPEAKER_01]: Visit the website at

[00:30:43] [SPEAKER_01]: Mike's on Mike dot com.

[00:30:45] [SPEAKER_01]: Join us next time for

[00:30:46] [SPEAKER_01]: more conversation with

[00:30:47] [SPEAKER_01]: Mike's on Mike.