Republican Adam Brandon is off to a good start in raising money for his race to succeed fellow Republican Michael Boylan on the Jacksonville City Council.
According to records with the Duval County Supervisor of Elections, he’s raised more than $65,000 in his first quarter as active fundraising, giving him a three-to-one advantage over the other filed candidate, Sarah Brittany Cohill.
Attorney Daniel Bean, The Fiorentino Group, The “Friends of Rory Diamond” political committee, Charles McBurney, Rep. Wyman Duggan’s “Citizens for Building Florida’s Future” committee, Mike Hightower, Jacksonville City Council President Kevin Carrico, Councilman Joe Carlucci, and Jordan Elsbury of Ballard Partners are just a few of the early backers of Brandon’s campaign.
While others, including a former state representative who works for a central Florida Congressman in D.C., have been said to be exploring running for the seat, Brandon’s strong first report says that any other candidates would face challenges.
Brandon is well-known and respected in legal and political circles statewide. Notably, Gov. Ron DeSantis has appointed him to the Judicial Nominating Commissions for both the First and Fifth District Courts of Appeal.
His military work has taken him across the world, including to Guantanamo Bay, where he served as a member of the Judge Advocate General’s Corps as Chief of the Litigation Support Section. He is currently Executive Officer of a 60-person legal unit.
As an active soldier, he was deployed as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom after graduating from Notre Dame Law School. He prosecuted members of al-Qaida in that capacity.
He’s active locally in a variety of organizations, including serving as a Rotarian and a board member of the American Red Cross-Northeast Florida Chapter.
He is also past President of the Jacksonville Lawyers Chapter of the Federalist Society and past General Counsel of the Duval County Republican Executive Committee, and an alumnus of Leadership Florida, the James Madison Institute Leaders Fellowship, and the Jacksonville Regional Political Leadership Institute.
Qualifying for Duval County races is in January 2027, with a First Election in March. In races where no candidate gets a majority in March, the top two finishers advance to a General Election in May.
