JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Northeast Florida political figures played a big role in Donald’s Trump presidential campaign, helping to deliver a decisive victory for the former President, now President-elect.
Officials with Jacksonville ties not only ran Trump’s Florida operations, but also his national campaign.
Now that one of those figures has ended up with one of the top jobs in the White House, political experts expect it could bear fruit for Jacksonville over the next four years. Susie Wiles was named Trump’s chief of staff on Thursday night.
“Susie likes to stay in the background. She’s not in the background,” President-Elect Donald Trump said on Election Night, referring to his Co-Campaign Manager Wiles.
Read: Jacksonville politicos take on high profile roles in Trump campaign
Wiles, or the “Ice Maiden” as Trump referred to her on Election Night, has become a national political powerbroker, but she’s seldom in the spotlight.
Her career has roots here in Northeast Florida, where she served in two Jacksonville mayoral administrations throughout the ’90s and early 2000s.
But she made a name for herself as a result of her work on the Rick Scott and Ron DeSantis gubernatorial campaigns in Florida.
Read: Jacksonville political adviser Susie Wiles was present during exchange at center of Trump docs case
“She has a long history like you allude to running successful campaigns in tight races,” University of North Florida political science professor Dr. Michael Binder said.
Binder noted Tuesday’s election was no exception.
“The tenor of the campaign outside of the rambling stump speeches, was much more Susie Wiles than it was say Trump in 2016,” Binder said.
Read: Election 2024: Trump wins presidency; Biden speaks
Former Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry’s Chief Administrative Officer Brian Hughes also played a big role in the campaign, running Trump’s Florida operation and later being elevated to Senior Campaign Adviser.
Duval GOP Chairman Dean Black argued Wiles and Hughes’ political experience in the swing county of Duval likely transitioned well to the national stage.
“Like an intergalactic super-heated cloud of dust creates stars, that pyrotechnic political process here in Jacksonville has itself created stars,” Black said.
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Now, with Wiles as Trump’s chief of staff, Binder expects Jacksonville could be better positioned in terms of its relationship with the highest office in the land than ever before.
“The idea that you might have somebody inside the Oval Office with that type of influence and sway with the potential for having majorities in both the Senate and the House for two years, you know, the ability to direct projects and benefits to Jacksonville is real,” Binder said.
Binder noted there are some caveats.
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DeSantis has had a rocky relationship with both Trump and Wiles.
There’s also the dynamics of having Democratic mayor Donna Deegan in Jacksonville that could come into play.
Trump is expected to announce some of his other main administrative picks in the coming days.
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