Brian Griffin (Florida)

This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.

Brian Griffin

Independent

Elections and appointments

Last election

March 21, 2023

Personal

Religion

Christian

Profession

Self-Employed

Contact

Campaign Facebook

Brian Griffin (independent) ran for election for Mayor of Jacksonville in Florida. He lost as a write-in in the general election on March 21, 2023.

Griffin completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2023. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Brian Griffin's career experience includes being self-employed.

Elections

2023

See also: Mayoral election in Jacksonville, Florida (2023)

General runoff election

General runoff election for Mayor of Jacksonville

Donna Deegan defeated Daniel Davis in the general runoff election for Mayor of Jacksonville on May 16, 2023.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Donna Deegan (D)	52.1	113,226
		Daniel Davis (R)	47.9	104,172

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 217,398
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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General election

General election for Mayor of Jacksonville

The following candidates ran in the general election for Mayor of Jacksonville on March 21, 2023.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Donna Deegan (D)	39.4	66,192
✔		Daniel Davis (R)	24.7	41,505
		Al Ferraro (R)	16.2	27,265
		Audrey Gibson (D)	8.6	14,440
		LeAnna Cumber (R)	7.6	12,721
		Frank Keasler (R)	2.4	4,011
		Omega Allen (Independent)	0.9	1,584
		Brian Griffin (Independent) (Write-in)	0.1	149

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 167,867
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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2019

See also: Mayoral election in Jacksonville, Florida (2019)

General election

General election for Mayor of Jacksonville

The following candidates ran in the general election for Mayor of Jacksonville on March 19, 2019.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Lenny Curry (R)	57.6	84,604
		Anna Brosche (R)	24.1	35,425
		Omega Allen (Independent)	10.5	15,465
		Jimmy Hill (R)	7.5	11,063
		Brian Griffin (Independent) (Write-in)	0.0	0
	Submit photo	Johnny Sparks (Independent) (Write-in)	0.0	0
		Other/Write-in votes	0.2	260

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 146,817
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Campaign themes

2023

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Brian Griffin completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2023. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Griffin's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

Born in Canal Zone, Panama, 4th generation. My great grandfather was one of the first pilots, through the Panama Canal. Raised for 9 years in Honduras. Fluent in Spanish. I have an international family, from the US, Brazil, Colombia, Spain, Puerto Rico & Cuba. Resident of Jacksonville for over 25 years & have been visiting since I was 20. Majored in advertising, in college. I have started a couple businesses & helped a couple friends start businesses. I have worked many kinds of jobs; my favorite was working on a major corporation's 401k plan.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• No party affiliated, grassroots, fiscal conservative, write-in candidate. For these reasons, I can keep my promises, with no party politics & special interest influence.
• Crime, affordable housing, storm resilience/readiness, our public schools & the traffic congestion are all problems that affect the entire city. I have real solutions to fix these problems, for all residents.
• I will represent & serve all of Jacksonville's residents equally. By improving all neighborhoods & all areas of Jacksonville, we will reduce crime, helping small businesses & bring all public schools to the highest standards, to give everybody a level playing field.

Community Question Featured local question

Did the COVID-19 pandemic change your approach to local policy issues? If so, please give us an example. If not, why?

No.

Community Question Featured local question

Do you believe crime rates are changing? Where do you get your crime rate data from? Would you make any changes to existing public safety policy?

Answered above.

Community Question Featured local question

Do you think the downtown area is healthy? What is your definition of a healthy downtown? What changes, if any, would you like to make?

Downtown is the perfect example of piling it on & improving nothing. Downtown is not healthy. I consider a healthy downtown a place you want to go to, for no real reason, a pleasant place to be. Residents barely want to go downtown to take care things they have to. It's just packed too tight. I think we should wait for the planned projects to be built & then go from there. Adding anything else right now, without actually seeing how the other projects are going to affect the feel of the area & the traffic flow, would be a mistake.

Community Question Featured local question

How important is it to involve residents in the government’s decision-making process? What plans do you have regarding resident involvement in this process?

I am running a grassroots campaign; I will represent & serve all residents, transparently & equally. Residents' involvement is essential & nothing should really happen without it, at least on projects that will affect their daily lives or anything involving city spending.

I will always have different ways to contact me or send advice & opinions. I will always be ready & willing to meet with residents, to hear their opinions, advice, likes/dislikes & any other kind of input.
Other than Mayor, I have no political ambitions. I want to fix the problems in our home, Jacksonville. If I win & I am successful as the mayor, I may run for a second term, but that would be it.
My job is working for all residents, including the kids, too young to vote.

That's why I am a NPA, grassroots, fiscal conservative, write-in candidate, for everybody.

Community Question Featured local question

How should record requests from the public be handled? Do you have any policies around transparency and accountability you want to enact?

City records are public records. Unless something is being investigated, all city records should be accessible by residents.

Community Question Featured local question

How would you address crime and public safety? Do you have a different stance than current city council policy?

I would get illegal & stolen guns off the streets. Most crime & hit & runs happens at night, so fill the city with streetlights, literally shed light on the problem. It would make our police safe too. Turnabouts, speed bumps & rumble strips will slow down traffic, in certain areas, to make drive-bys high risk, for the criminal.

Better to prevent crime, than to react after the fact.

All city council does is pass laws, that have done nothing to reduce crime.

Community Question Featured local question

What do you think about the city's current approach to public safety? Would you take any different positions?

Lacking. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over & over again & expecting a different outcome. We lay all the problems on our police, who are not trained to deal with many situations they encounter. We expect them to be able to fix every problem, but we don't pay them for that.

We need a special unit, to send to situations, when people are having mental problems. We need to use nonlethal weapons whenever possible. I would also like to test drones as tracking vehicles, to prevent high-speed chases & keep our police safer.

Budget allowing, I would like cameras at every intersection, only for tracking known criminals.

Community Question Featured local question

What do you think about the city's environmental health? Would you make any changes to current policy?

We need to increase green spaces & encourage residents to grow trees.

Community Question Featured local question

What plans do you have regarding infrastructure?

Storm & flooding resilience & readiness. Our storm protection is 50 to 100 years old. We need to prepare for the next 100 years. FEMA pre-disaster grants are available, keeping the cost to residents low.

I will work with DOT to resolve traffic congestion in our city, so everybody can spend less time in their cars.
Install sewer pipe throughout Duval, to eliminate septic tanks.
New streets, sidewalks, streetlights, playgrounds, parks & sports grounds in all areas of Jacksonville.

I consider public schools infrastructure, so they will all be brought up to the highest standards.

Community Question Featured local question

What plans do you have regarding the police department? Would you make any changes from current policy?

Our police do not want citizen oversight, so I would move the Internal Affairs offices out of the Police Headquarter, to maintain anonymity & facilitate a police officer's reporting of a bad officer or bad actions, without worry of intimidation.

If someone has not committed a violent crime & they are running, I would like our police to be able to just stand down & catch them next time. A pursuit ramps up adrenaline & can cause mistakes to happen.
I would get officers more involved, in the neighborhoods they serve, to create comradery & trust.

I would never defund the police; I would only add & improve them.

Community Question Featured local question

What policies would you have implemented in reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic? Why did you select those policies?

I would supply all valid information & recommendations, from trusted sources. I would not force people to do anything.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

I would never defund the police, but some changes & additions would help. The Internal Affairs offices should be removed from the Police Headquarters, so there is not intimidation, when an officer wants to report bad actions. We should also include a specially trained unit, to take care of residents with mental problems. This will protect both, residents & police officers.

To decrease crime, I will put new streetlights everywhere, proven to reduce crime up to 39%. Streetlights & rumble strips will reduce hit & runs too. In the higher crime areas, I will add turnabouts, speed bumps & rumble strips everywhere, making it hard to drive fast or sneak into a neighborhood, reducing drive-bys.
We need to invest in poorer, neglected neighborhoods, eliminating redlining, to improve their ability to start small businesses & improve their lives. We need to show kids they can succeed, no matter where they live.

I would begin storm resilience & readiness immediately, raising breakwaters, reinforcing tributary & river edges, get more dependable flood prevention, in most affected areas & in some cases, dredging drainage ditches & tributaries may be necessary.

Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?

Teddy Roosevelt. Although he may be considered politically incorrect today, I always admired his get up & go. He didn't sit around, talking about situations, he went out & fixed the problems, no matter where or what they were. The true, "the buck stops here", politician.

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

Honest, fiscal conservative, who serves selflessly.

What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder?

I am selfless, a fiscal conservative & always consider others' perspectives.

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

Honest to the residents & serve every resident equally.

What legacy would you like to leave?

I would like to know I made a positive change in Jacksonville, fixed major problems, kept my promises & made residents even more proud of their city.

What is the first historical event that happened in your lifetime that you remember? How old were you at the time?

Man on the moon. Almost 4.

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

Does it count, if I didn't get paid? As a teen, in Honduras, I worked with Doctors Without Borders, as a translator & medication counter. It happened for a couple weeks, 3 to 4 times a year, I did it for 4 years. One of the most rewarding jobs I have had.

If you could be any fictional character, who would you want to be?

Superman.

What is something that has been a struggle in your life?

Speaking in front of large crowds.

A mayor is a leader in his or her city. What does that mean to you?

It means being in charge of getting things done, fixing things & improving the lives of Jacksonville residents.

What do you love most about your city?

The diversity of people.

What do you perceive to be your city's greatest challenges over the next decade?

Crime, affordable housing & attracting new companies, to increase better paying jobs.

What do you believe is the ideal relationship between your city and the state government?

Work together, as much as possible.

What do you believe is the ideal relationship between the mayor's office and law enforcement?

Working together.

What organizations or individuals have endorsed your campaign?

Waiting on responses from a bunch of organizations. A couple are waiting until after the primaries.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

Note: Community Questions were submitted by the public and chosen for inclusion by a volunteer advisory board. The chosen questions were modified by staff to adhere to Ballotpedia’s neutrality standards. To learn more about Ballotpedia’s Candidate Connection Expansion Project, click here.

2019

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Brian Griffin did not complete Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey.

See also

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Mayor of Jacksonville

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