Meek Courting Jacksonville Black Vote

Senate candidate Kendrick Meek's poll numbers are bad. Meek is making a GOTV push in Jacksonville.

Greene's top competitor in the Democratic primary, U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek, has placed a heavy emphasis on Jacksonville in his campaign. He called Jacksonville "a city of true commerce" because of its port and transportation grid during a meeting with The Times-Union's editorial board last week.

He said it's unfortunate a lot of candidates don't see the same value.

"A lot of folks, politically - especially the Democrats - said 'Jacksonville is a nice place, you'll get X amount of votes there, but it's not necessarily someplace you'd go when you're running for the Senate,'" Meek said.

According to the 2000 U.S. Census, 29 percent of Jacksonville's population is African-American. It is essential for Meek to get out the black vote. I think Meek still needs to make a harder push in the I-4 corridor. Time is essential and Meek is wasting time campaigning in the Panhandle. Jeff Greene will win the Panhandle in the primary. Marco Rubio will probably win the Panhandle in the general election. Meek needs to work his voting base before it is too late.