It looks like the long-rumored battle between Congressman Al Lawson and former Jacksonville Mayor Alvin Brown is actually going to happen. Brown announced this week, so its formal. The self-described visionary will face off against Lawson for the 5th Congressional District seat.
“North Florida deserves a pragmatic, visionary leader who will aggressively champion policies that create good-paying jobs, ensure economic and financial security for all, and improve our overall quality of life,” Brown said in a written statement.
This contest will garner a lot of attention.
Lawson responded to the Brown’s announcement in an interview with Florida Politics. He said he has known “for months” that Brown had his eye on the seat, but said “Alvin failed as mayor and a lot of people in Duval are saying he’s just looking for a job.”
It’s a job that Lawson says Brown can’t have– and he won’t find the support he needs among the politically entrenched. ““The leadership in the CBC is all behind me,” Lawson said. “I meet with them every week.”
But as usual politics makes for strange bedfellows. Brown has already been endorsed by one former CBC Chair. Lawson isn’t bothered by the unexpected pinprick in his CBC support, though. He said that instead of Bown finding a job, he’s going to find retirement instead.
”We’re going to retire him,” Lawson said.
Brown, though, sees chinks in the ‘law-man’s’ armor. In a written statement issued by the campaign, Team Brown has this to say:
“There is a clear sense [among voters in Congressional District 5] that Lawson generally seems uninterested in serving the district and has gone Washington. At a time when civil rights, voting rights, immigrant rights and women’s rights are under attack, Lawson seems content to live the life of a privileged Congressman who refuses to fight for the people of his district.”
Lawson will have to deal with what appears to be a Trump endorsement, though.
The battle lines have been drawn.
