Published on March 27, 2023 at 5:07 pm
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Q. Duval County Supervisor of Elections Mike Hogan’s son, Joseph Hogan, is one of two candidates in the City Council District 7 race who are headed to the May 16th election after finishing in the top two in March. As a couple of our astute readers have wondered, how does an election supervisor do his job if a family member is one of the candidates in a race under his supervision?
In other words, how will voters be assured of a fair election?
A. Joseph Hogan, a Republican who is the son of Duval County Supervisor of Elections Mike Hogan, netted 31.52% of the City Council District 7 vote, just behind Democrat Jimmy Peluso’s 34.72%, meaning a runoff between the pair in May’s general election.
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Because of this, Mike Hogan says he already recused himself from many supervisor duties in the March election and will do the same come May.
“When the supervisor is running for reelection or endorses a candidate on the ballot or has a family member on the ballot, that supervisor cannot serve on the Election Canvassing Board,” Mike Hogan says, “which means the supervisor cannot touch any ballot that comes into the office, nor does the supervisor participate in the duplication of mail ballots, the verifying of signatures on mail ballots or determining voter intent on those ballots that are marked insufficiently.”
Though Hogan is in a particularly sensitive spot as supervisor, It is not unusual for the child of a sitting elected official to run for another office in Duval County. In this election alone, Joe Carlucci, who won the March election for the City Council District 5 seat, is the son of current at-large Council member Matt Carlucci — himself the son of a late state lawmaker. And current District 7 Council member Reggie Gaffney Jr. — who is heading into a runoff in District 8 — is the son of former City Council Member Reggie Gaffney Sr.
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In March, nearly 26% of Duval County’s registered voters cast ballots for mayor, property appraiser and 16 City Council races.
Have a question you’d like the Jacksonville Today team to look into? Email news@jaxtoday.org with #AskJAXTDY in the subject line, and you might see your answer soon.
