Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry is endorsing Congressman Ron DeSantis, R-Palm Coast, for governor.
Curry announced his support this Thursday afternoon after touring the MaliVai Washington Youth Foundation’s afterschool program, just west of downtown Jacksonville, with DeSantis.
Curry said the two align on important issues — being tough on crime and investing in youth — and he said they come from similar working-class backgrounds and want others to have the same opportunities.
“Ron’s a good conservative,”Curry said.“I’ve been about disrupting the status quo locally, and I think that that’s what’s got to happen everywhere, and Ron’s going to disrupt the status quo as the governor of the state of Florida and I’m supporting him, voting for him and encouraging folks to get out and vote in the primary.”
DeSantis in turn called the mayor “innovative.”
“What he’s done here is showing that you got to be bold, you just got to keep pushing, and that’s obviously what I would want to do as governor,” he said.
DeSantis said Jacksonville deserves a state government that will build on Curry’s success.
When asked if he’ll be fundraising for DeSantis, Curry said he’ll do “whatever it takes.”
He said while DeSantis’ GOP opponent, Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam, is a friend, “I think Ron’s the right guy right now.”
Reporter Lindsey Kilbride can be reached at lkilbride@wjct.org, 904-358-6359 or on Twitter at @lindskilbride.
