About 30% of registered Duval County voters have already cast a ballot – that’s more than 136,000 people who voted early and 58,000 mail ballots. Between those combined ballots, Republicans have a slight lead of 2,500 votes. Republicans had more combined early and mail ballots than Democrats in most recent midterm races, except the 2018 midterm under former president Donald Trump.
Southside Jacksonville evangelist Doris Rodgers spent her Friday morning posted outside the Northside’s Highlands Regional Library, one of Jacksonville’s early voting sites. She wasn’t holding a Bible or talking about her faith but saw this morning as another kind of ministry: She’s one of more than 25 Jacksonville faith leaders trained as a “poll chaplain,” tasked with ensuring voters feel
While the political world is hyper-focused on the midterm elections, the day after next Tuesday’s voting opens another chapter in local politics. Nov. 9 is the day the Jacksonville mayor’s race gets real. The major players vying for the seat are Daniel Davis, Leanna Cumber, Donna Deegan, Audrey Gibson and Al Ferraro. Davis, the CEO of the Jax Chamber of
Dozens of endorsements are flying, and most of them are of the “Well, it would be news if they didn’t endorse Candidate X” variety. Others are exceptions to the rule. This cycle’s leading example: Jacksonville first lady Molly Curry’s backing of Democrat Lakesha Burton for Duval sheriff. Burton has some traditionally Republican backers, and crossing party lines for endorsements is
One of Florida’s most-powerful lawmakers and a North Miami Democrat touting a “grassroots” campaign are competing in the Nov. 8 election to become state agriculture commissioner. Outgoing Senate President Wilton Simpson, a Trilby Republican and egg farmer, has more name recognition, political connections and funding as he goes up against Naomi Blemur, the first Haitian-American to be a major-party candidate
Florida voters next month will choose a state chief financial officer who will have a big role in trying to reform the property-insurance system, as the industry faces an uncertain future exacerbated by billions of dollars in claims from Hurricane Ian. Republican Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis is seeking another four-year term in the Cabinet post, with Democrat Adam Hattersley,
Former Orlando-area State Attorney Aramis Ayala is making a “longshot” bid to unseat Republican Attorney General Ashley Moody, saying a key issue is the independence of Florida’s top legal officer. But as with other contests this year for state Cabinet seats, the race between Ayala and Moody is an undercard to elections for governor and U.S. Senate and has made
Florida voters are being asked to decide whether to approve two property-tax measures and the fate of the state’s Constitution Revision Commission. Lawmakers placed three proposed constitutional amendments on the ballot, including two that would provide property-tax breaks. One of those measures, which will appear on the ballot as Amendment 1, would prevent properties’ assessed values from going up because
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist brought his “Together Florida Tour” to Northeast Florida last week. Sort of. The Crist campaign advised reporters Thursday that the “Crist Campaign’s tour bus (would) make stops in North Florida to collect supplies and basic necessities for Floridians in Southwest Florida who were hit hard by Hurricane Ian.” How did that go? Here’s how it
Over the weekend, I visited the Cummer Museum for the opening of the Deborah Roberts exhibition I’m. On a large wall, visitors encounter a description of the exhibition, which notes the title I’m “signals a merging of the individual self (the ‘I’) with a larger sense of being (‘am’) and suggests a sense of self-determination and a reclaiming of community.”