JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Three political operatives who worked on campaigns in Jacksonville will be in the center of the action Tuesday when results roll in for the tight race between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris.
Florida isn't a battleground state this time, but in a nation where swing states will determine the next president, the Jacksonville political scene with its high-spending mayor elections and shifting political currents has been a place that rewards savvy consultants.
Here are three campaign staffers for the Trump and Harris campaigns who have left their mark on Jacksonville not only in the election of candidates but also some high-profile referendums for the Better Jacksonville Plan and paying down pension debt.
Trump's campaign co-campaign manager Susie Wiles
Before Susie Wiles became a well-known national figure in political circles, she was a top staff member for Jacksonville mayors John Delaney and John Peyton.
Wiles, a Ponte Vedra resident, served as chief of staff for Delaney and worked on the successful campaign for a half-cent sales tax supporting the Better Jacksonville Plan that was the signature achievement of his time as mayor.
She was chief of communications and special initiatives for Peyton when she coordinated the creation of the The Jacksonville Journey crime-fighting program that saw some early success at bringing down the city's high murder rate. She also worked on The River Accord for improving the health of the St. Johns River.
Wiles later ran Rick Scott's successful campaign for governor in 2010 and lead Trump's win in Florida in 2016 when he was elected president. She was a senior adviser on Ron DeSantis's winning run for governor in 2018.
Wiles said in an interview with USA TODAY that she views herself as a team player and having other staffers be the public-facing part of the campaign allows her "to do a better job" orchestrating the mechanics.
“I do prefer to be in the background,” she said, an assessment Delaney agreed with in the USA Today profile of her.
"She hates the limelight," he said.
Trump senior adviser Brian Hughes helped Curry win election
Brian Hughes entered the Jacksonville political scene as one of Lenny Curry's top political strategists when Curry won election as mayor in 2015.
Hughes played a similar top role when Curry won voter support for a half-cent sale tax for paying down the city's massive pension debt that had piled up for years. That half-cent sales tax will start after the Better Jacksonville Plan sales tax expires at the end of 2030.
Hughes then moved from the political world to the governmental side of City Hall when Curry hired him as his chief of staff in 2018. He also was interim CEO of the Downtown Investment Authority and then became chief administrative officer, the highest-ranking staff position in city government.
“To me and dozens of other elected officials, Brian Hughes has been a senior adviser on important matters of public policy and communications,” Curry said when he named Hughes his chief of staff.
After term limits ended Curry's time as mayor, the Trump campaign hired Hughes in 2023 to be director of its Florida operation and he later won promotion to senior adviser. Curry is not on Trump's campaign staff but he has been a supporter of Trump's re-election campaign.
Obi Omunna: Harris's head of campaign in Southern states
While Wiles and Hughes have worked on Republican campaigns, Nwabufo "Obi" Umunna's path from Jacksonville to a regional role in Vice President Kamala Harris's operation went through the Democratic Party in Jacksonville.
Umunna, a Jacksonville native and University of North Florida graduate, is founder and managing partner of Umunna Legal Group. He cut his teeth in politics when he managed Darryl Willie's run for the Duval County School Board in 2014. Willie didn't win that election, but Umunna went on to be a campaign consultant for a winning School Board race by Warren Jones and in 2020, he was North Florida director for Joe Biden's presidential campaign.
He also has worked as a campaign advisor or consultant for Nikki Fried when she ran for governor, Kelly Coker when she won a School Board race and state Sen. Tracie Davis when she was elected in 2022.
For the Harris campaign this year, he is Southern battlegrounds political and coalitions director while Harris makes a concerted push to win Georgia and North Carolina.
