Jacksonville Mayor Alvin Brown’s non-appearance at President Barack Obama’s campaign rally in Jacksonville last week was officially because Brown was out of town at a mayors’ conference.
But if he had been in town, he might not have been there anyway.
“I’m not going to get involved in presidential politics. I’m not getting involved in any campaigns,’’ Brown told the Tampa Bay Times on Wednesday, reiterating a nonpartisan stance he expressed during his campaign last year and again before the GOP debate in Jacksonville in January. The Democratic mayor didn’t say whether he’d even vote for Obama, the Times
reported.
He said he wants to work on Jacksonville, not national, issues.
“I ran a bipartisan campaign, I have a bipartisan administration with Republicans and Democrats. I made a promise I would focus on governing, not politics,” Brown said.
Brown has been involved in presidential politics before, of course, having worked on the White House staff during Bill Clinton’s administration. And Brown was happy to have the former president record a robocall for him that went out to Jacksonville voters before Election Day last year.
During the race, Brown argued that party shouldn’t play a role in local elections, although his base remained Democratic voters.
His campaign, though, received much of its money from two sources: the state Democratic party and a group led by Peter Rummell, a heavyweight Republican fundraiser.
The Obama campaign did not return a request for comment.
