Maybe the third time’s the charm for former West Palm Beach mayor Lois Frankel’s Congressional campaign. The combative Democrat has hired Jonathon Bray as campaign manager #3 in her quest for U.S. House District 22.
Bray, 28, comes from North Carolina, should be an asset for Frankel in her Democratic primary against Broward County Commissioner. He recently left North Carolina state Rep. Patsy Keever’s congressional campaign, where as her campaign manager he successfully shepherded her through a Democratic primary in May. The Democratic operative was helped Kendrick Meek gather petitions to make it on the ballot in his failing bid for the U.S. Senate two years ago. Frankel’s spokesman Joshua Karp said Bray has strong family ties to Palm Beach County.
Bray replaces Greg Richardson, who Karp said left the campaign because of family health problems. Richardson fumbled when he sent a memo to Jacobs demanding that she resign from her Broward County Commission seat before Gov. Rick Scott can appoint a Republican replacement. Within hours, Richardson sent Jacobs’ campaign manager Marcia Monserrat a second memo, saying he misstakenly sent the e-mail and it was not approved by Frankel. Richardson left the campaign shortly afterwards but the memo mishap had nothing to do with his departure, Karp said.
“Greg was a phenomenal manager that Lois was lucky to have. Greg steered the campaign through a crucial phase, building the kind of network needed to take on Adam Hasner,” Karp said, referring to the GOP candidate in the District 22 race.
As with the Hasner reference by Karp, Frankel – the clear frontrunner in the race – is all but ignoring her challenger. Frankel is ahead in the polls, has the backing of numerous national heavyweights, including the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, and has eclipsed Jacobs in fundraising. As of the latest campaign finance report filings on June 31, Frankel had nearly $1.4 million in her war chest – more than ten times the $75,000 cash-on-hand Jacobs reported.
Monserrat said Jacobs has had three campaign managers as well, sort of.
“Me, myself and I. That’s it,” she quipped.
