OPINION | ‘The silly season nears a close! Will we be laughing in the end?’

T.S. Eliot once posited that “April is the cruelest month,” and while that’s debatable, what’s less arguable is that August is the goofiest month in most political cycles – including this one.

As you read this, there is about a week between now and the end of voting in the Aug. 20 primary – which is arguably more important than the November vote in a number of down-ballot elections, mostly due to gerrymandering, meaning we don’t have competitive districts in state and federal legislative races.

As a result, the shenanigans peak during the days before the primary vote, as it will effectively decide these contests given disparities in party registration in many places.

And unsurprisingly, these seemingly ancillary stories may end up being the most memorable things about this cycle once it’s all over and everyone is making Labor Day plans.

Let’s look at a few!

Stolen and defaced campaign signs go with North Florida elections like jelly goes with peanut butter, and right on cue is a complaint from Republican Judson Sapp of House District 20.

“Help us identify the individual in the photos/videos who has been destroying our large signs around Putnam County. It appears to be a white male driving a black SUV. Likely a Black Subaru Forester/Outback. We are offering a $1,000 reward for tips that lead to the arrest of this criminal,” Sapp posted to X last week.

In the grand scheme of Sapp’s family wealth and strong fundraising (he carried more than $300,000 cash on hand into the stretch run of the race, between his campaign account and his “ Friends of Judson Sapp ” committee), $1,000 isn’t much – especially given currency devaluation. But it’s the effort that counts, right?

It’s not just stolen signs that are in play, either.

As if on cue, we’ve also got fake endorsements to deal with, as some malefactor has sent out a sheet urging people to vote for candidates like Tom Leek for Senate and Nick Primrose for HD 18 – neither of whom were endorsed by a county party just to the south of us.

The St. Johns County Republican Party is bemoaning a “fraudulent guide (that) includes the St. Johns County GOP logo, has a slate of candidates that were not endorsed by the party, does not have legal disclaimers stating who paid for it and represents the most obvious case of voter fraud (Chair Denver Cook) witnessed to date.”

And apparently Kojak and Columbo – or the local versions thereof  – are on the case!

Cook says that “law enforcement was contacted and the matter is being referred to Florida Department of Law Enforcement for further inquiry and I will pursue legal action on behalf of the St. Johns County Republican Party.”

That should show them!

By the way, if you got one of these fake mailers, you’re urged to keep it unopened to “facilitate fingerprint analysis.”

Additionally, Action News Jax tells us that mailer is not the only fake endorsement promulgated … with Corrine Brown unhappy with HD 13 Rep. Angie Nixon over “Quick Picks” that claim Nixon is the endorsed candidate of the former Congresswoman. Brown apparently is suing Nixon, who in turn blames her former opponent, Rep. Kim Daniels .

“We filed a lawsuit,” said Brown. “It’s what I feel I’m doing to make a better place.”

Beyond sign stealing and endorsement fudging, we’ve also got a rap song in the mix in HD 13, indicting incumbent Nixon for failing to get appropriations or bills through in Tallahassee.

Primary challenger Brenda Priestly Jackson says her campaign isn’t responsible, while Rep. Nixon excoriated the song once she heard it, saying the rapper was “p— poor” and calling the tune “horribly produced.”

If Priestly Jackson scores the upset, there’s a bright side: The Democratic lawmaker may have a second career in record reviewing.

Beyond the melodramas of late-stage campaign hijinks, there are some serious issues as well, including convenient write-in candidate closures of primaries in House Districts 13 and 14 (where Rep. Kim Daniels, D-Jacksonville, faces two candidates this month) and Senate District 5 (where Tracie Davis has a challenger).

Priestly Jackson has been the most vocal about this trend, saying that in the case of her race, Republican and independent “neighbors” are disenfranchised from voting in her race. She believes that would make the difference.

In reality, of course, party shifts aren’t hard to make — a matter of a few minutes online if you’re currently registered.

But the candidate’s comments, however self-interested, illustrate the fundamental fraud of the process, where Republicans draw maps in which they get a supermajority in exchange for an uncompetitive third of districts, and where those maps guarantee that the most partisan and least moderate potential candidates in both Republican and Democratic districts prevail and shape our laws and discourse in Tallahassee.

Great news if you’re a donor. Probably less great if you’re one of us ham-n-eggers, negotiating a state increasingly leveraged toward corporate interests fiscally, leveraging the most extreme voices in social matters while the middle class erodes like a beach restoration project during a tropical storm.

That’s not silly at all, of course, thus illustrating the ultimate subtext of Silly Season. Behind the comic mask looms a portrait of tragedy.

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