Reggie Fullwood is starting to look like a solid bet to return to the Florida House.
First elected to the Florida House in 2010, Fullwood was the only candidate running for his secure Democratic seat in Jacksonville in the 2014 election cycle. But Fullwood was tripped up after a a notary overlooked a box to check off regarding his financial disclosure.
Fullwood tried to get back on the ballot but a judge ruled against him, meaning a special election is looming to fill the open House seat. Fullwood faces fellow Democrat Johnny Gaffney in the Dec.16 primary. Whoever wins will be a heavy favorite in the Feb.17 special election.
Gaffney filed to run back in early July. One of the leading Democrats in the city back in the early 1980s, Gaffney played for the Florida Gator football team and, before he suffered a devastating injury, he was headed to the NFL. Gaffney bounced back strongly after the end of his football career. He worked for Barnett Bank and went to grad school, eventually obtaining a doctorate in education. Gaffney also found success in politics, winning a city council seat back in 2007 and keeping it in 2011 with more than 70 percent of the vote.
But, despite his botched effort to get on the ballot, Fullwood is no lightweight. Only 39, Fullwood burst onto the political scene in 1999 when he was the youngest member ever elected to the Jacksonville City Council beating Audrey Gibson. Facing term limits, Fullwood rolled the dice and came up short in 2006 when he offered a primary challenge against Gibson who was then in the Florida House. Despite losing, Fullwood did surprisingly well, taking 43 percent against a pretty well-established incumbent. When Gibson faced term limits in 2010, Fullwood ran again and this time claimed the seat.
Things appeared to be going Fullwoods way until the ballot snafu. Now he is guaranteed a more challenging path to the House. But Fullwood has claimed much more momentum in recent days and is now a favorite to head back to Tallahassee. Last month, the Florida Democratic Party waded into the primary and sent Fullwood $10,000. At the end of last week, Gibson, now a member of the Florida Senate, and Mia Jones endorsed Fullwood.
Fullwood has the edge in the money race. By the middle of November, he had raised $41,400 with $37,500 of that coming in October and the first half of November. Fullwoods kept most of his powder dry, spending less than $15,000 by the middle of November.
Gaffney simply ran out of gas on fundraising. By the middle of November, Gaffney had brought in $33,865 but only $3,200 of that was raised after Sept. 30. Gaffney has kept most of what hes raised on hand, barely spending $6,000 by the middle of November. With the Democratic establishment starting to unite behind Fullwood, Gaffney has two weeks to turn things around.
Longtime Republican leader Lawrence Jefferson who is with the Duval County sheriffs office is hoping to take advantage of a competitive Democratic primary. Jefferson has served as the Duval County GOPs treasurer and is one of the leading black Republicans in Jacksonville. But he hasnt had much luck when he turned his attention to higher office, including running for a Florida House seat back in 1999 when he got crushed by Denise Lee.
Its hard to imagine Jefferson being a major factor here -- but then it was hard to imagine Fullwood failing to make the ballot in what should have been a slam dunk re-election effort. In the meantime, Fullwood heads into the final two weeks of the primary as a favorite over Gaffney.
Tallahassee political writer Jeff Henderson wrote this analysis exclusively for Sunshine State News.
