Matt Carlucci endorses Donna Deegan in Jacksonville mayor's race

Matt Carlucci dropped his own bid for mayor before his campaign really kicked in, but the moderate Republican said Donna Deegan has been running her campaign the same way he would have and that appeal to unity convinced him to endorse her.

"I've always said Jacksonville moves best when we move together, and I just think she's the best candidate to do that," Carlucci said.

The endorsement gives Deegan, a Democrat, a well-known Republican on her side while she and Daniel Davis, a Republican who is CEO of JAX Chamber, are locked in a tight runoff election for mayor.

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Carlucci raised $1 million for his mayoral campaign before opting in December 2021 to seek re-election on City Council. One of his biggest supporters, business executive Michael Ward, gave $48,000 to Deegan's political committee in March. Carlucci said he is encouraging his backers to get behind Deegan.

Deegan's campaign announced the endorsement Thursday.

"As fellow Jacksonville natives with family roots that go back generations, Matt and I share a deep love and commitment to this city,” Deegan said. “He has been a go-to voice of reason in the community, maintaining objectivity and an unwavering commitment to serving all Jacksonville residents regardless of party lines."

Carlucci said beyond agreeing with the local government issues Deegan is running on, he also decided to endorse her because he said she's run a positive campaign while Davis has tried to use Deegan's participation in Black Lives Matter rallies in 2020 to attack her in political ads.

Carlucci said that like Deegan, he attended peaceful Black Lives Matter marches that were joined by other City Council members, Mayor Lenny Curry and members of the Jaguars.

"To imply that she was part of radical behavior that happened hours and hour later, that's disingenuous and as a matter of fact, that's dishonest," Carlucci said.

Davis said at an April 20 mayoral debate moderated by Action News Jacksonville the Black Lives Matter ads are intended to show what happens in cities where "radical activists" are placed in charge of police departments.

Deegan ran as a Democrat for Congress in 2020 when she tried to defeat U.S. Rep. John Rutherford, R-Jacksonville, in a race that saw her and Rutherford stake out positions that resembled the national political parties on matters before Congress.

Carlucci said in local government office, party labels shouldn't matter and he expects Deegan would not govern as a partisan.

""It's about changing the culture of the governance of the city, and you can't do that when you're playing party politics because party politics divide," Carlucci said. "The message I like hearing from her is about uniting Jacksonville."

Carlucci also endorsed a Democrat for mayor in 2003 when he supported Nat Glover, who lost a runoff election that year to John Peyton. Carlucci ran for mayor that year.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Donna Deegan captures endorsement in Jacksonville mayor race