Jacksonville, FL — Some new faces are joining the Jacksonville City Council, but five races will remain undecided until May.
In order to win outright tonight, a candidate had to secure 50% + 1 of the votes. If that did not happen, the top two vote-getters in the race will face off on May 14th. That will happen in five races, including two that feature incumbents.
FULL RESULTS: Jacksonville's City Council races
In District 8, Democrat Ju’Coby Pittman and Democrat Tameka Gaines Holly are the top two contenders. Pittman was appointed to the seat when the Governor suspended the prior City Councilwoman. That prior Councilwoman, Katrina Brown, did run in the race, but she did not land in the top two to make it to the runoff. In At-Large Group 3, incumbent Democrat Tommy Hazouri and Republican Greg Rachal will face off in May.
In District 10, the top two vote-getters are Democrat Brenda A. Priestly Jackson and Democrat Celestine Mills, but nobody secured the majority needed to win outright. District 14 was another open seat, and Republican Randy DeFoor and Democrat Sunny Gettinger will be on the ballot in May in that race. City Council At-Large 1 was open, and Democrat Lisa King will face Republican Terrance Freeman. Freeman is a sitting Councilman in District 10, but is running for election to At-Large 1, instead of re-election to the seat he holds, which he was appointed to by the Governor when the prior Councilman, Reggie Brown, was suspended.
The remaining 14 races have been decided.
Four of those seats had victors before the night even started- Republican LeAnna Cumber in District 4, Republican Rory Diamond in District 13, incumbent Republican District 3 Councilman Aaron Bowman, and incumbent Republican District 11 Councilman Danny Becton were all elected without opposition.
Among the other races, in the open District 6 contest, Republican Michael Boylan secured the win. Open At-Large Group 2 saw Republican Ron Salem victorious. At-Large Group 4 was another open seat, although the person filling it is a familiar name to the Council- former Councilman Republican Matt Carlucci defeated two challengers to win the race.
Aside from the two incumbents in runoffs for their seats, the others secured re-election. Democrat Joyce Morgan was re-elected in District 1, Republican Al Ferraro was re-elected to District 2, Republican Scott Wilson was re-elected to District 4, Democrat Reggie Gaffney was re-elected to District 7, Democrat Garrett Dennis was re-elected to District 9, Republican Randy White was re-elected to District 12, and Republican Samuel Newby was re-elected to At-Large Group 5.