JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA — Republican Daniel Davis and Democrat Donna Deegan are headed to a runoff election in the race for Jacksonville’s next mayor.
Davis and Deegan were the top two vote-getters in Tuesday’s election, however neither candidate earned more than the 50 percent of the vote necessary to win outright. A runoff was all but guaranteed, given the crowded field of 9 candidates. The runoff election is scheduled for May 16.
Deegan earned 40 percent of the nearly 165,000 total votes, while Davis earned 25 percent – Action News Jax reports. Al Ferraro, a Republican, finished in third place with 16 percent. Democrat Audrey Gibson came in fourth at 9 percent, followed by LeAnna Cumber at 8 percent.
The results mirror recent polling that showed Deegan and Davis holding comfortable leads among likely voters.
Davis has served as President and CEO of the Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce since 2013. Prior to that he was the executive director of the Northeast Florida Builders Association. Davis also served on the Jacksonville City Council, including as Council President in 2007, and spent four years as a member of the Florida House of Representatives.
Deegan made her name as a broadcast journalist in Jacksonville and unsuccessfully ran for Congress in 2020. A three-time breast cancer survivor, she started her own non-profit in 2003 to fight breast cancer, The DONNA Foundation. The Foundation’s national marathon event that boasts “millions in economic impact to Jacksonville.”
