JACKSONVILLE – Melissa Nelson sat in a catty-corner conference room tacked to the side of her pop-up election office in the Town Center area of town sipping tea and flipping through a music playlist on her smartphone she compiled since deciding to run Fourth Circuit State Attorney. She has her personal favorite, Rachel Platten’s “Fight Song,” some Eric Clapton and, of course, Survivor’s “Eye of the Tiger.”

Confident about her decision to run against incumbent Angela Corey, Nelson’s campaign has amassed more than $233,000 since filing to run on May 5. Prior to Nelson entering the race, the state attorney’s race, Corey appeared headed toward an easy win after raking in some $294,000 compared to challenger Wes White’s $32,810.

Nelson grew up the granddaughter of World War II veterans who survived the Great Depression. Some of her fondest memories are of the long walks she took with her grandfather to slice apples for the horses in the stable near her childhood home in Tallahassee.

“Those were life lessons on those walks,” Nelson said. “Much of my character and the way I live my life comes from lessons I learned from him.”

He passed away in 1997 and the stables she once frequented are now a housing development, but the wisdom he shared with her on those walks followed her through a 12-year stint as a prosecutor.

For those who know Nelson, her policy on “tough but fair” sentencing should come as no surprise. Her father started as a sheriff’s deputy on the street and eventually retired from law enforcement as a U.S. Marshal.

“It was he, when I graduated from law school, who admonished me,” Nelson said. “He wrote me a letter and told me to never ever lose respect for the awesome power that my signature now held to change the trajectory of a life.”

Fresh from University of Florida Levin College of Law, Nelson cut her teeth on misdemeanor trials, and then ultimately began prosecuting high profile murder cases such as the Jason Simpson double ax-murder trial of 2007, which resulted in the death penalty. She was eight months pregnant with her second child at the time.

Her experiences as a former prosecutor and current role as a civil attorney also helped mold her stance on fair and balanced sentencing. To illustrate this, she gives an example of three children stealing from a grocery store where “One steals because he was dared, one because he’s hungry, and one steals because he thinks it would be fun,” she said. The same punishment for each child is not appropriate, she said, and explained that the “facts and circumstances drive a resolution that makes sense with public safety being the number one goal.”

The fundamental power of the state attorney’s office, Nelson said, is to be proactive in the approach to crime in the Fourth Judicial Circuit and use the office’s platform to remain on the front end of problems through diversionary and re-entry programs.

“The data and research is unequivocal on the positive impact on the taxpayer on the benefit of those programs,” Nelson said.

Nelson is known around courtrooms for her “tough but fair” prosecution methods among her peers such as Bill Bolena, former homicide detective for Jacksonville Sherriff’s Office.

“Melissa is a hell of an attorney,” Bolena said. “I really enjoyed working with her because she challenged the job, she made it interesting, she was fresh and she wanted to win and I really liked that.”

Bolena knows Corey and Nelson in and out of the courtroom as close friends and respects them both as powerful attorneys, who are both qualified for office.

Richard Cullen, a former U.S. attorney, Attorney General of Virginia and current chairman of McGuireWoods law firm sees Nelson as a “star” at his firm. And while he would hate to lose her at his office, he understands that her decision to run for state attorney is a higher calling for her.

“The first time I met her we talked about her view of prosecuting, including the most difficult capital cases,” Cullen said. “I found myself thinking ‘this woman should be the State Attorney or U.S. Attorney or something.’ She is the real deal.”

Thus far, Nelson and White have managed to stay out of the political theater caused from a lawsuit aimed at Corey’s former campaign manager and Kenny Leigh a men-only attorney. Judge Richard Townsend must decide if Leigh, who signed on as a write-in candidate hours after Nelson entered the race, did so with the intention of closing the Aug. 30 primary to voters who are not Republicans and increase Corey’s chances of re-election and if his actions break any laws.

For Nelson, the state attorney’s race is a “24-hour minus sleep” job, but playing her campaign’s theme “Fight Song” on repeat undoubtedly acts as an exciting caffeine shot for purple eyes and days that, for her, might seem like a constant signature stroke.

“This race to me represents values that are more than just political buzzwords,” Nelson said. “It represents fairness, integrity, transparency and accountability, and those are the values that I’ve tried to abide by in both my personal and professional lives.”