State Representative Tracie Davis is seeking to move to the State Senate to fill the seat being vacated by the term limited Audrey Gibson. Davis has been a good House member since joining the body after Rep. Reggie Fullwood’s filing snafu in 2016. She’s been a strong advocate for gun control, social justice and stood strong on women’s issues, including reproductive freedom.

Her Democratic Primary opposition, Jacksonville City Councilman Reggie Gaffney has a questionable record in terms of his coziness with GOPers at the city level, at a time when Duval County is undergoing a political metamorphosis. His campaign is also largely backed by GOP-aligned business interests. Time and again we’ve seen GOP-aligned, pro-business interests pile into Democratic primaries in safe seats and influence the election.

Not only does Davis deserve election, we’re very concerned about Gaffney getting elected. A common tactic for the GOP and Adams Street interests to gain additional support on critical votes has been to fool Democratic Primary voters into backing candidates like Gaffney in the past. We do not want to see the mistake repeated in 2022.