Former Jacksonville Mayor John Delaney endorsed Republican Lenny Curry for mayor Wednesday. Delaney, a Republican, also attacked Democratic Mayor Alvin Brown saying Brown lacks leadership and called Brown’s budget proposals “as mythical as a fairytale.”
Delaney said, “We have a candidate in Lenny Curry who brings a freshness, a sunniness, business acumen, and a perspective that this city needs.”
“I have absolute confidence that we have a leader in Lenny,” he said.
Delaney says he and Curry do not always agree on everything, including an issue that is very important to Delaney, the anti-discrimination ordinance.
“I don’t want anyone to take this endorsement as a signal that I know where Lenny is going to end up on that issue,” he said.
He says that Curry will “listen to both sides and work to find a solution.”
Regardless of where Curry ends up on that decision, Delaney says, “I wholeheartedly and happily endorse Lenny Curry to be the next mayor of Jacksonville.”
After Delaney’s endorsement, Brown’s campaign spokesman, Yianni Varonis released a statement dismissing Delaney’s endorsement as a partisan decision. The statement says this endorsement is no surprise.
Varonis said, “John Delaney is finally making it public that he’s decided to make a political decision to back his Republican colleague.”
