Good News From Florida

Buried in the news of the week amongst the Senate votes on gun control and the bombing at the Boston Marathon with the subsequent manhunt for the Chechen bombers, was the defeat of one of Mayor Bloomberg's Illegal Mayors in Gainesville, Florida. The last time I had reported on Mayor Craig Lowe, he had just been arrested for driving under the influence with property damage.

In the run-off election for mayor of Gainesville, Lowe lost to former City Commissioner Ed Braddy.

In a city where registered Democrats outnumber Republicans by a margin of more than two to one, the Republican Braddy defeated the Democrat Lowe by almost 10 percent of the vote. With all 35 precincts reporting, Braddy had 7,258 votes (55 percent) to Lowe's 6,007 (45 percent).

Lowe was one of the 30 mayors featured in a recent MAIG video demanding "a plan".

While Lowe's DUI undoubtedly played some role in his defeat, Braddy attributed his win to a campaign message of making Gainesville more affordable for both people and business. He also pledged to run a more open City Hall.

While campaigning, Braddy said that differing or contrary viewpoints were not welcome under Lowe's leadership. He said the city should do away with more restrictive rules on public comment at City Commission meetings, including the requirement to sign up in advance to speak at the 6 p.m. time for general comment.

"City Hall is open to the people," Braddy told a cheering group of supporters at The Warehouse restaurant. "The people will be welcomed at City Hall."

Why am I not surprised to read that Mayor Lowe wasn't open to differing or contrary viewpoints. That seems to be the modus operandi of all gun prohibitionists.