Florida Political Notes: Mica challenger raises $60,000 mostly through the Internet
As political candidates tallied up their second quarter campaign donations, Democrat Heather Beaven recognized the power of the Internet.
Beaven, a Navy vet and nonprofit executive who’s running against 18-year incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. John Mica, said she’s raised just over $60,000 for her campaign so far online alone. Going into this fundraising period, she was leading all other congressional challengers in the region.
Online donations helped drive her fundraising total up to about $135,000 when the second reporting quarter ended Wednesday. She estimated $50,000 came from that time period alone. The second quarter runs from April to June.
The campaign started with a humble midnight scramble on the social-networking website Facebook, Beaven told the News Service of Florida last week.
“My husband and I raised the first $20,000 or so literally in bed, with him on one laptop, me on the other laptop, Facebooking everyone we could think of at 1:30 in the morning,” she was quoted as saying.
Beaven has been after Mica for maintaining a pro-drilling stance as oil continues to leak into the Gulf of Mexico. Mica, who has roughly $1 million in his campaign war chest – the type of cash that could blow away an under-financed challenger – told the News Service he wasn’t planning to campaign until September.
‘Downhill trajectory’
The thing about power: It can slip away quickly. Ask newly seated City Council President Jack Webb.
During a meeting with The Times-Union’s editorial board last week, Webb stressed his priorities for the next year but also stressed he’s there for just one year. The goal, he said, is more to try to set up the next president than make a name for himself.
“A lot of pundits and people who have been in this position prior to me understand full well that the height of my influence and my authority probably peaked at the day of my installation – the moment of my installation,” Webb said. “So, right now it’s a downhill trajectory.”
Question of equality
A number of women’s rights advocates came to the aid of U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek, who finds himself in an increasingly contentious Democratic U.S. Senate primary with real estate tycoon Jeff Greene.
One of the Meek supporters was Jacksonville’s Nancy Soderberg, who was an ambassador appointed during the Clinton administration.
After Greene was quoted in the Washington Post referring to Hollywood madam Heidi Fleiss as “a businesswoman,” Soderberg and others held a conference call with the media to express their disappointment on behalf of women struggling in legitimate workplaces.
“He’s a voice for Florida’s future,” Soderberg said of Meek. “His opponent is the voice of the deep, dark past.”
Greene’s campaign dismissed the conference call as a campaign stunt and made a promise to protect women’s right to choose while fighting for payroll equality and better jobs for women.
On the air
WBOB conservative talk radio has moved from AM 1320 to AM 1530.
The station, which ranked 17th in the Jacksonville market last fall, was poised to go off the air as a Southside Jacksonville church sought to move in to the dial space with a religious format. Parent company Chesapeake-Portsmouth Broadcasting Corp. opted to move WBOB to AM 1530 starting last Thursday.
Among the programs saved was “What’s the Buzz?” which is hosted by Duval GOP Chairman Lenny Curry and committeewoman Cindy Graves.
That was good news, Curry said, adding that a place on the airwaves has been a plus for the party.
“It’s a powerful tool,” Curry said. “It’s branding.”
david.hunt@jacksonville.com, (904) 359-4025
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