Fury Seeks To Be Bristol's First Royal Mayor

Jason Flores

BRISTOL – With a crown on his head and a flowing gold robe, Rapper Jason “Fury” Flores stood regally on a white carriage pulled by a horse during today’s Mum Parade to declare his intention to launch a write-in campaign for mayor.

“I will be a merciful king,” he declared to the crowds. “Vote for me and I will spare your lives.”
Flores, 25, said he plans to become Bristol’s “first royal mayor” and aims to spur interest in the race if nothing more.

Flores joins a three-way contest that already features Democratic Mayor Art Ward, Republican challenger Mary Alford and independent hopeful Gary Lawton.

As he traveled along North Main Street at the end of the parade, someone yelled to him, “Can you give us no taxes?"

Flores answered instantly.

“I will spare your lives. That is all,” Flores said.

Both Alford and Lawton, who marched near Flores in the parade, said he adds an element of fun – and that’s not a bad thing.

“Is he not the most fun?” said Alford, who added, “I waited all day to curtsy to the king.”

Nick Valenta, a Bristol resident, said that Flores would get his vote in the November 8 election.

“He’s done something different,” Valenta said. “It’s time for an alternative.”

Flores declared last January he would run against Ward for mayor because the incumbent had failed to cut down a hickory tree near his mother’s house that dropped nuts that damaged her car.

He has an increasingly successful career as a rapper, playing concerts across the country, and gaining renown in his own hometown for a song he did called “Bristol State of Mind” – a local version of the hit song about New York by Jay-Z and Alicia Keys. It has attracted tens of thousands of viewers on YouTube.

Flores said he decided to put on the king outfit for the parade because he needed “to do something that would get people to pay attention.”
He said that even if his campaign does nothing more than to get voters to give the mayoral race some serious attention, it would be worth it. The election matters, he said, and people ought to get out and vote.

“That’s why you have to bring in the king,” Flores said.

Along the parade route, Flores created quite a stir, coming near the tail end of the long parade when viewers lining the road were growing weary of beauty queens, marching bands and floats.

He got big laughs from the crowd when he promised them merely to let them live if they voted for him, which has to rank among the most unusual platforms a candidate has ever adopted.

Flores said, though, that he plans to issue a more complete platform this week. 

Copyright 2011. All rights reserved. Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com