The small town of Newberry, with just 9,000 residents, is proving that no corner of America is safe from the political division affecting the entire country.
Influences from outside of Newberry are making some residents see the nonpartisan mayoral race through red- and blue-tinted lenses. Mailers and ads from outside Newberry’s borders criticizing mayoral candidate Tim Marden have led to mud-slinging both Marden and his opponent say they don’t want any part of.
“I was horrified when I saw them,” said mayoral candidate Joy Glanzer. “This is not Newberry. You know that we don’t do this to each other, and I’ve never, never seen it like this.”
City commissioner Marden is running against former commissioner Joy Glanzer to become the city’s next mayor. Jordan Marlowe, the current mayor, is set to become Newberry’s next city manager. Residents will choose who fills Marlowe’s empty seat on Tuesday, April 8. Two seats on the city commission are also up for grabs.
Officials from the company One Alachua County, started in Gainesville, mailed fliers to Newberry residents last week with the message that “Marden is right for developers, wrong for Newberry,” and that a Marden mayorship would lead to clogged roads and small businesses closing.
Both officials from One Alachua County and Glanzer say she had nothing to do with the fliers. Glanzer said the fliers are more likely to hurt her campaign than help it, especially in Newberry.
“I would never say any of those things,” Glanzer said. “The clean campaign is hallmark for me, and just seeing it turn into this has been discouraging.”
One Alachua County is a company started by former Alachua County Democratic Party director Jay Maggio. It was created to fund a push to get a ballot initiative passed in last year’s election in Alachua County. The initiative, which passed by more than 70% of the vote in November, made it so county commission races weren’t based on specific districts. Maggio did not respond to WUFT’s request for an interview.
The ballot initiative gave Gainesville residents a huge advantage in choosing county commissioners, since the city’s population of more than 145,000 dwarfs cities like Newberry.
The measure reversed a ballot initiative passed in 2022. Marden was involved in the push to convert Alachua County Commission elections to single-member districts, which made it so commissioners represented specific districts rather than being elected county-wide, giving smaller, more conservative communities more say in county politics.
One Alachua County advisor Bobby Mermer confirmed that Glanzer had nothing to do with the anti-Marden fliers. He said they were sent out with the goal of getting candidates who “support unity across Alachua County” elected.
Marden was a supporter of a movement to secede from Alachua County a decade ago. He proposed drawing a line down State Road 121, and dividing the land between Alachua County and a new county called Springs County. He said the divide would help Newberry because he believes Alachua County commissioners are more focused on Gainesville.
The Alachua County Republican chairman has also been publicly critical of the Alachua County School Board, and helped with Newberry city leaders’ controversial push to convert Newberry’s schools to charter schools.
Marden said that even if Glanzer had no involvement, he thinks it is “absolutely” her fault that partisanship was injected into the race. He said her past experience running for office, like city commissioner, should have prepared her for mudslinging.
Marden said he thinks his role as chairman of the Alachua County Republican Party also invites conflict, but said he wasn’t planning on making any moves himself.
“I could’ve reached out to the state party, the national party, and got a lot of firepower brought in here,” Marden said. “It wasn’t something I was interested in doing. I wasn’t trying to introduce any significant partisanship into this election.”
He said that his position as a right-wing politician in Alachua County paints a target on his back for officials in Alachua County and Gainesville.
“I caused a lot of, you know, a headache for the liberal left in Gainesville, and Alachua County,” Marden said. “I’m sure they see it as kind of a two-for-one, you potentially get a defeat over an Alachua County Republican chairman, and they also get a defeat in the mayor.”
Glanzer said the Democrat label doesn’t represent her leadership style. She said she wants what’s best for Newberry, which goes beyond partisan politics.
“It’s supposed to be a completely, you know, non-partisan race and I think myself, my issues are all about Newberry,” Glanzer said. “The rhetoric that’s coming is all about party platforms, and you know, left and right and blue and red.”
Glanzer said it wasn’t her idea to side with Democrats, and that party leaders back any registered Democrat running for office. Glanzer said she only became a Democrat in the past year after decades of being a registered Republican. Conservative Newberry residents have said Glanzer would be a Trojan horse for left-leaning politics, which she denies.
“I don’t know how this got to be this way because, like I said, I’ve lived here all my life- since I was 20. I’m 70 almost,” Glanzer said.
Marden is a registered Republican, but said he has been nonpartisan on the city commission for 12 years. He said he has no problem with people who want what’s best for Newberry, but won’t abandon his principles to “claim cooperation.”
Newberry’s city attorney is also working to figure out whether Marden is in violation of the Florida constitution.
At a mayoral debate hosted March 26, Glanzer mentioned Marden’s application to lobby for the John Birch Society, a conservative political advocacy group that called for defunding public schools in the 2020s. Marden registered to lobby on March 10 and formally became a lobbyist on April 1. His Facebook page also lists him as part of the ‘national development team’ at John Birch Society.
Article 2 section 8 of the Florida constitution says that public officers, like mayors and city commissioners, “shall not lobby for compensation on issues of policy, appropriations, or procurement.” Marden said a Gainesville Sun reporter reached out to him about the violation, and he announced plans to withdraw the application. As of Wednesday, Marden’s application had not been withdrawn.
“I’m not lobbying for compensation in the traditional sense,” Marden said. He said he already speaks with state and federal lawmakers about grant money and policy proposals that would help Newberry. If Marden were to lobby for the John Birch Society, he would be advocating for that organization, rather than Newberry. Marden said that has a mutual benefit for both Newberry and the John Birch Society.
Marden said he’s waiting for guidance from Newberry City Attorney Scott Walker before withdrawing his registration. He said he only filed to lobby for transparency, since he was already visiting Tallahassee and Washington, D.C., off the books.
One of the biggest concerns for Newberry voters is the city’s growth. The city’s current commission has signed off on building thousands of new homes, approved a Publix right next to a north central Florida-based grocery store, and pushed to convert Newberry Elementary into a charter school.
The city’s growth is one policy issue addressed in the fliers sent to Newberry residents. The flier says that a Marden mayorship would lead to clogged roads and small businesses closing.
“I have voted to cut my own pay as a commissioner before,” Marden said about the fliers. He said he’s never approved tax or millage rate increases. “Your property taxes may be going up because property values are going up.”
Glanzer, who owns a realty company, said she is in favor of growing Newberry, but she wants to make sure the city’s infrastructure doesn’t become strained.
“My issues are all about Newberry – streets and roads, grant funding,” she said.
Glanzer said she wishes the race were more about policy than politics. She said being thrown into the whirlpool of partisan politics has not only hurt her campaign, but caused a rift in Newberry.
“This is not reflective of who we are,” Glanzer said. “I look forward to after the election when we can be neighbors again.”
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