Jacksonville: Hyde drops out of 2011 Jacksonville mayor's race

[Patricia M. McBride]

Can't raise money? Maybe if the property taxes weren't so high, people would have had money to donate.

City councilman had lagged behind in fund-raising since start of his campaign.

Posted: October 8, 2010 - 12:20pm

By Matt Galnor

Jacksonville City Councilman Kevin Hyde, whose mayoral run has been marred by an inability to raise money, is dropping out of the race.

Hyde sent a letter to contributors this week and told the Times-Union Friday he is dropping out of the 2011 race he entered nearly a year ago. The letter to donors included a check for a prorated share of their contribution.

Hyde said he will be meeting with the other Republican candidates over the next month but has not yet decided who he would back — if anyone. While it has long been rumored that Hyde was planning to get out but was waiting on a deal with one of the candidates to eventually become the city’s general counsel, Hyde said no such deal is in place.

Hyde, managing partner of the Jacksonville office of Foley and Lardner, entered the race last fall — a month after Tax Collector Mike Hogan and Audrey Moran, president of the Sulzbacher Center for the homeless. From the first financial reports in January, Hyde lagged well behind.

He said at the time he expected to gain ground later but that never materialized. Hyde loaned his campaign $25,000 during the second quarter but was still fifth among 13 candidates as of June 30. Publisher Jim Bailey and former General Counsel Rick Mullaney, who both filed campaign paperwork in April, both surpassed Hyde in their first quarter.

Some notable donors to Hyde’s campaign were Bill Foley, chairman of Fidelity National Financial, and Terry Brown, president of ICS Logistics, who also raised the maximum $500 donation from seven other companies Brown is listed as a top executive for.

Financial reports for money raised from July through September are due next week.

Hyde said Friday it would take about $1.5 million to run a successful campaign and, at $92,000 through nine months of fundraising, he clearly wasn’t going to get there.

Hyde was elected to the council in 2003 and served as president during the 2005-06 council year.

The city election is in March, with a potential runoff in May.

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