Jacksonville, FL — Jacksonville’s new City Council will be seated July 1st, and we now know who will fill those seats.
The majority of these races, as well as Mayor, Sheriff, and other County-wide offices, were settled in the March election. The five races up for decision Tuesday were also on the ballot in March, but no candidate secured 50% + 1 of the votes. Because of that, the top two vote-getters continued through to this May election.
There were three District and two At-Large City Council races up for a vote.
In District 8, incumbent Democrat Ju’Coby Pittman retains her seat. Pittman was appointed to that spot by then-Governor Rick Scott, who suspended her predecessor, Katrina Brown, when she was federally indicted in an alleged fraud scheme. District 10 and District 14 were open seats, and Democrat Brenda Priestly Jackson and Republican Randy DeFoor won those, respectively.
For At-Large Group 1, Republican Terrance Freeman came out on top. Freeman is the sitting Councilman representing District 10, which is a seat he was also appointed to when the prior Councilman, Reggie Brown, was suspended by the Governor for being indicted in the same alleged scheme as Katrina Brown. Freeman opted to run for At-Large Group 1, instead of re-election in District 10.
In At-Large Group 3, incumbent Democrat Tommy Hazouri retains his seat.
VOTER GUIDE: Get to know the Council members
When the new City Council is seated, there will be plenty of new faces beyond those that secured their spots Tuesday.
In the March election, District 5 Republican LeAnna Cumber, District 6 Republican Michael Boylan, and At-Large Group 2 Republican Ron Salem were elected, and are all new to the Jacksonville City Council. District 13 Republican Rory Diamond is new to the body as well, but comes straight out of the Neptune Beach City Council.
At-Large Group 4 Republican Matt Carlucci is not a sitting City Council member, but he has served three prior terms on the Council before.
Incumbents came out big back in March, with nine re-elected outright: District 1 Democrat Joyce Morgan, District 2 Republican Al Ferraro, District 3 Republican Aaron Bowman, District 4 Republican Scott Wilson, District 7 Democrat Reggie Gaffney, District 9 Democrat Garrett Dennis, District 11 Republican Danny Becton, District 12 Republican Randy White, and At-Large Group 5 Republican Samuel Newby.
Overall, the City Council now has 12 incumbents, with the slight caveat that Freeman is a sitting Councilman, but for a different seat than he currently occupies. That means seven new Council members, although Carlucci has the prior Council experience.
Republicans also came out ahead overall, gaining one seat compared to the current body. There are currently 12 Republicans and seven Democrats on the Council, but Democrat John Crescimbeni termed out in At-Large Group 2, and Republican Ron Salem beat his Democratic challenger in the March election. That means the incoming City Council is represented by 13 Republicans and six Democrats.
Cox Media Group
