A race for Nassau County Commission is getting muddy, or perhaps I should say, sandy.
The District 3 race features incumbent Jeff Gray, who is seeking re-election against Lynn Newcomer. Both are Republicans, meaning the race will be decided in an open Primary this month.
First thing's first: Nassau County is about as red as it gets, so of course this is a GOP on GOP matchup.
But is it?
Gray is running on keeping taxes low. As a Commissioner, he's voted with colleagues to lower property tax rates in the county four times. But put a pin in this one for just a second; we'll circle back.
Newcomer is running, among other issues, on making changes to the County comprehensive plan as it relates to sustainable development through 2032. (It's worth noting here that Gray and the Commission passed the first countywide land conservation ordinance.)
Now, land conservation and sustainable development aren't necessarily partisan issues — everyone wants to preserve wildlife and green space to at least some degree, but issues surrounding how to preserve and how much to preserve can get pretty political, pretty quickly. And to hear her tell it, she sounds like she's erring more on the side of conservation priorities on the Left, rather than those from her own political party.
And then there's this: In a Westside Republican Club of Nassau County meeting Tuesday, Newcomer was asked whether she supported beach driving. Fernandina Beach is one of very few remaining that allow vehicles on the beach. In her answer, Newcomer admitted that her answer would not be popular, saying she opposed it and attributing that stance to "a situation in California where someone was killed."
She argued that "beaches are to enjoy, to lay down on 'em, to walk on 'em, but we don't need to drive on 'em."
The beach-driving issue is a big one in Nassau, where being able to do something that's expressly forbidden in other areas remains popular among locals. Again, she even acknowledged this.
So what gives?
The answer is simple: Riverstone. The community is in a battle, lawsuit and all, against Nassau County over restrictions the county is trying to impose on the development, beach driving among them. The affluent community doesn't want a bunch of tourists motoring up and down *their* beach.
They created a political committee, Preserve Nassau, to aid in the cause. That PC is backing Newcomer, and a review of its contributions and expenditures shows that it's a mixed bag and could best be described as "liberal adjacent."
Its biggest expense has gone to Reliant Florida, a Tallahassee-based consulting firm whose payees include the campaign for Ashley Wells Cox, a judicial candidate who was backed by Democrats, and Next Generation Jax, a political committee chaired by Matt Carlucci Jr., a Republican who supported Democrat Donna Deegan for Jacksonville Mayor, and who is widely decried as a RINO (Republican In Name Only).
Gray, meanwhile, wants to keep driving on the beach legal on Fernandina Beach.
Now back to taxes.
During the same meeting Tuesday night, Newcomer blasted Gray over the issue of taxation, suggesting that he must not support lowering property taxes because her taxes went up — a claim she's also made on her campaign blog.
Newcomer is either playing dumb or just simply doesn't understand property tax. Property taxes are levied through different entities. Cities set their portion of the tax, as do counties. But what some people may not know is, School Districts also have the authority to set millage rates for a portion of property taxes to fund school operations.
While Nassau County has consistently lowered its rates, the School District upped its, leading to overall higher taxes. But let's make this very clear — neither Gray nor anyone else on the Nassau County Commission played any role in the school district's property tax hike.
The bottom line is, you have a newcomer named Newcomer who is either intentionally or ignorantly misrepresenting her incumbent opponent's stance on taxation, all while supporting a policy change that is widely unpopular in the area. And she's tied herself to a group that is at least loosely affiliated with liberals … in a county home to more than 45,000 Republicans and just 13,000 Democrats. Hell, even when you add in the nearly 17,000 no-party voters, GOP voters still outnumber them by about 15,000.
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