JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Former State Senator Tony Hill is hoping the newly drawn District 4 map which encompasses a large part of Duval, as well as all of Nassau and Clay Counties, will play into his favor in the upcoming election. The familiar political figure says Duval isn’t as red as many think, acknowledging however that there’s a lot of work ahead, introducing himself to Nassau and Clay County voters.
″My name is Tony Hill, and I’m running for the United States congress and I’m running to win,” Hill said Tuesday at the Longshoremen’s union hall in Jacksonville.
Former State Senator and Army Veteran Tony Hill, urged supporters to join him in what he calls “his tour of duty” over the next six months.
Hill says current Congressman Al Lawson encouraged him to run. Lawson’s district – which included parts of Duval County – got split up in the redistricting process.
Running as a Democrat, Hill says his platform includes standing up for working families, and veterans, and fighting for affordable housing.
WATCH: This Week in Jacksonville discussion on congressional redistricting
″I want to make sure that the constituents in the 4th district are not listening to the national media and making this a referendum on Biden and Harris, this has nothing to do with Biden and Harris, it has to do with constituents in the 4th district having someone go to Washington and advocate on their behalf,” Hill said.
Political experts have said the new congressional map – which eliminates Lawson’s district and another one in Central Florida held by a Black Democrat -- favors Republicans in this new District 4.
″The majority of the district is in Jacksonville, we are going to build on the coalition we have here in Jacksonville, and hopefully we can have, we can have some democrats in Nassau, and Clay County,” Hill said. “But there’s a lot of independents vote over there, non-party affiliation, so when we get past the primary, we’ll delve deeper into that.”
There are at least two Republicans running in District 4 – Erick Aguilar and current State Representative Jason Fischer.
There are other candidates – both Democrats and Republicans - who previously filed to run for the old District 5, but have not yet filed to run in the new District 4.