No joke: Don't even think about it

Let’s nip this in the bud.

See the guy in our photo? No way he should be a Citrus County commissioner.
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His name is Paul Grogan. You probably remember him as the County Commission District 2 NPA candidate from 2022 who closed the primary with his candidacy, assuring Diana Finegan a win.

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Now he’s back in the same role, different district, but the plans didn’t go as expected.

Grogan was meant to block non-Republicans from the District 5 primary, giving Jesse “Sedition Panda” Rumson a real chance of beating incumbent Holly Davis. Then, just as in 2022, Panda and Grogan would pretend their way to the real election in November.

Those plans went awry over a paperwork snafu that tossed Panda from the ballot. That left Davis with no primary, facing only Grogan in November.

Now. Politics is either two things: Predictable or wildly unpredictable.

Because it’s predictable, Jeff Kinnard was re-elected. Because it’s wildly unpredictable, Janet Barek defeated incumbent Ruthie Davis Schlabach.

The wildly unpredictable gets my attention. It vaults to a special place in my political thinking. When normal becomes abnormal, I change my approach.

What happened in 2022 was annoying but predictable. Bad players are always looking for ways to mess with the ballot. They messed with it fair and square. We had a sham primary and sham election but, in this day and age, it’s par for the course.

Fueled by that success, the Library Guy Gang (my new moniker for Citrus County's anti-Citrus Countians) dreamed up Act II. This time they had Panda Rumson against Davis in the Republican primary, with no-party affiliate Grogan limiting the primary to Republicans only.

Logic says that never would have worked because there’s no way voters would purposely choose Panda over a sitting commissioner. 

Janet Barek threw logic out the window.

Now Grogan is sitting there on the November ballot opposite Davis, which means that, you know, it’s possible HE COULD GET ELECTED.

And that would set us back a million years.

First off, please realize I’m not necessarily Team Holly. She knows this. I disagree with many of her positions. Some of the things she claims as victories I see in theory only. Our conversations are often not a lot of fun.

But Holly’s smart, cares for the community, knows the ins and outs of county government, and has a passion for helping people. Some votes you agree with, some you don't. That's the deal. We'd have a different conversation if she had a decent competitor.

Grogan seems like a nice man. I know a lot of nice people. I wouldn’t support them for public office, either.

Grogan isn't the least qualified candidate for Citrus County office, but boy, he sure is close.

For one, he’s rarely here. Grogan's job that keeps him away at sea from the county for months at a time.

A JWC reader sent Grogan a message wondering how he planned to campaign and, if elected, serve in absentia. The reader sent me Grogan’s response:

“I’m available 24 seven via text will be having Tuesday zoom calls and each day I'll be updating people about the things I care about. Continuing discussion so that we can be fully engaged like a community.

“We can also do radio ads, flyers, and you tube session. Basically, the same tools the current board has to communicate.

“I’m here anytime.”

It’s signed, Paul M. Grogan, “the Citrus Countian.”

Good grief.

I’m not going to ignore this race as I did the two Primary commission contests. I don’t regret spending so much time on the sheriff and superintendent campaigns, as they clearly were top of the ticket. And, had Ruthie won what should have been a slam-dunk re-election, I’d be ignoring this one too.

But she didn’t. So, I won’t.

Paul Grogan has no business on a ballot, let alone in office. He is self-funding his campaign. Only spending money on the ballot qualifying fee. If he truly cares for the community, he’d tell the morons who came up with this plan to stuff it.

Instead, he’s a pawn. If Grogan can’t see it, I hope voters will.

I've returned from vacation. Can you tell?

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