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Analysis
Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry (R) has distinguished himself as a Twitter troll.
Large, diverse cities tend to skew liberal. As a longtime resident, I’m not surprised that Jacksonville is the largest city in the United States to have a Republican mayor.
Northeast Florida is ruled by good ol’ boys and their big, fat bank accounts—with some extra influence from Jaguars owner Shad Khan, who doesn’t seem to particularly care who the mayor is as long as they grease the wheels for his pet projects.
Truth be told, Curry is a bit of an anomaly among today’s Republicans.
He implemented mask and work-from-home orders in the early days of COVID-19. He resisted bigots’ demands that he veto legislation prohibiting discrimination on the basis of gender identity and sexual orientation. He supports removing Confederate monuments.
After a group flew a Confederate flag over a Jaguars game, Curry tweeted, “As I’ve said before, there is no place for hate of any kind in our City.”
Given the foregoing, you’d be forgiven for wondering if he actually is a Republican. The answer is an affirmative yes.
In 2020, while COVID tore through the country, Curry thought it was a brilliant idea to host the Republican National Convention. He hosted a fundraiser for Herschel Walker’s ultimately unsuccessful Senate campaign.
I was there when Curry beamingly introduced former President Donald Trump to the crowd during a 2016 campaign stop.
He’s actually been in Trump’s comments since 2013. “Haters gonna hate,” Curry replied to Trump on Twitter. “Losers gonna lose.”
Neither the Capitol riot nor the fact that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) is Trump’s chief political rival have soured Curry on the former president.
Last month, he took to Twitter to complain about CNN cutting into one of Trump’s nonsensical monologues.
Curry really, really likes to tweet. And he especially likes to get into Twitter battles. He recently called a prominent local lawyer a “media whore.” He raised eyebrows up and down the timeline when he fat-shamed a constituent who made fun of him last January.
Curry’s online haunts are Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.
Why it matters
Lenny Curry is an ambitious climber who formerly served as chair of the Florida Republican Party. He knows who’s who in the Florida GOP, and it’s widely speculated that he has his eye on a much bigger office after his term ends in 2023.
With his connections and ability to appeal to independents, it would be a fool’s folly to underestimate Curry.