A Look at the Candidates who Qualified for the Jacksonville Mayoral Race
JACKSONVILLE (FLV) – The list of the candidates who qualified for the Jacksonville Mayoral race is set for the upcoming spring election.
The Jacksonville Mayoral election will be held on March 21, 2023. The qualifying period ended Friday.
Republican candidates for Jacksonville Mayor include Daniel Davis, LeAnna Cumber, Al Ferraro and Frank Keasler. Democrat candidates include Donna Deegan and Audrey Gibson. Omega Allen and Brian Griffin are not affiliated with a party.
Davis has served as the president and CEO of Jax Chamber since 2013 with an emphasis on promoting business-friendly policies. He was previously the executive director of the Northeast Florida Builders Association. It is Florida’s largest local membership trade association representing the building and construction industry in Duval, Clay, Nassau and St. Johns counties.
Davis also served on the Jacksonville City Council and served four years in the State House of Representatives. The Fraternal Order of Police endorsed Davis last week and U.S. Rep. John Rutherford, R-FL, also endorsed the candidate.
Cumber ran for office for the first time in 2019 and was elected to the Jacksonville City Council. On the City Council, she said her priorities include making Jacksonville safer by cracking down on crime and investing in public safety. She also led the charge on the City Council to crack down on sex trafficking in Jacksonville.
Cumber’s priorities, if elected mayor, are to cut the gas tax, oppose unnecessary higher taxes on Jacksonville families and make the community safe.
Elected to serve on the City Council in 2015, Council Member Ferraro was subsequently re-elected in 2019. His priorities, if elected mayor, include eliminating wasteful spending, providing law enforcement officers with the tools they need to combat crime and ensuring that the City of Jacksonville’s government is transparent and accountable to the people.
Keasler has nearly four decades of experience of dealing with federal, state and local governments and their agencies and departments, and the business, economic and legal professional service.
Keasler has ideas of “retooling” the government administration, the traffic systems, the “unfettered access” to the internet and a “true inspiring” program for Duval County Public Schools, if elected mayor.
Deegan has 25 years of experience as a news reporter and is a former lead anchor for First Coast News.
If elected mayor, Deegan plans to bring a “lasting change for Jacksonville.” She was endorsed by former Democrat Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried, Ruth’s List Florida and former Jacksonville City Council Member Garrett Dennis.
Gibson is a former state Senator. Her priorities, if elected mayor, include focusing on budget and spending, fairness and good government, economic growth and job creation, health care and economic impact, transportation and infrastructure, honoring the military and veterans and crime and safety.
Allen’s vision for her campaign is honesty, accountability and transparency. Her goal, if elected mayor, is to “service the needs of the ENTIRE Jacksonville community.” She served as a business training coordinator for a youth ex-offender program and served as a leader for other local programs and committees.
Griffin is a write-in candidate with no party affiliation. According to his Twitter, he says if elected mayor, he will “work for all Jacksonville residents, cutting crime, stope wasteful spending and reduce traffic.”
