Drew Dixon
Four of the seven seats on the Duval County School Board were up for grabs in the Aug. 20 election, and each race was loaded with intensity and attempts to influence the vote by Gov. Ron DeSantis.
With all 160 voting precincts in Jacksonville reported, it’s a mixed bag for Team DeSantis. But three out of the four races have been conclusively decided.
District 1
The District 1 seat for the School Board represents largely the Arlington and Fort Caroline neighborhoods and Northeast Jacksonville. It was vacated by Kelly Coker. Nadine Ebri, who has been an educator in Jacksonville for a decade, squared off against Tony Ricardo, a former high school teacher in Duval County.
According to Tuesday’s unofficial results, Ricardo had about 53%, or 9,070 votes. Ebri had about 46%, or 7,945 ballots cast for her. There were 17,015 votes cast in the District 1 race.
Both candidates brought heavy endorsements and influence into the campaign for District 1. DeSantis endorsed Ricardo was in July, saying Ricardo “is a candidate who is committed to fighting for schools to get back to the fundamentals,” the Governor said.
Ebri brought her own stable of endorsements and influence including the Jacksonville Association of Firefighters, Duval Teachers United, the Jacksonville National Organization for Women and about a half dozen other organizations and politicians who have backed her run for School Board.
District 3
The Duval County School Board District 3 race saw competition between Rebecca “Becky” Nathanson and incumbent Cindy Pearson.
The District 3 seat represents the geographic area of traditional and historic neighborhoods south of the St. Johns River — such as San Marco, St. Nicholas and San Jose — and stretches into the Mandarin area.
The race was tight even after all 21 precincts reported in that district. Pearson came out with a lead with about 51%, or 8,533 votes. Nathanson claimed 48%, or 8,091 ballots. There were a total of 16,624 votes cast in District 3.
The District 3 School Board race saw the most amount of campaign financial contributions for any School Board race in Jacksonville this election cycle. Pearson drew upon her experience and backing from some conservative supporters such as former Jacksonville Mayor John Peyton, who contributed to her campaign through his family’s company Gate Petroleum Co., a major corporation in the North Florida area.
Nathanson sought to bring a more conservative flavor to the School Board. She’s been a high-profile activist in Moms for Liberty and other conservative-leaning organizations. And DeSantis also threw his support behind her.
District 5
The District 5 Duval County School Board race drew the most candidates, with three people seeking the position, which represents the urban areas just north of downtown Jacksonville. Candidates in the race included Reggie Blount, Nahshon Nicks and Hank Rogers.
None of the candidates in the District 5 race were rookies in the Duval County political arena. This race appears to be headed to a runoff in the Nov. 5 General Election, according to unofficial results. Blount had 40.47%, or 6,102 votes. Rogers had 40.02%, or 6,034 votes.
Educated We Stand, a group pushing back against conservative efforts to take over School Boards, is backing Rogers.
“I am incredibly proud of the success our endorsed candidates have achieved,” said Jennifer Jenkins, founder and Chair of Educated We Stand.
“In a time where our public education system faces immense challenges from well-funded far-right efforts to impose conservative ideology on our schools, these victories affirm the public’s support for leaders committed to diversity of thought, inclusivity, and fact-based education. Our mission to protect and empower our students with the knowledge they need to lead informed, successful lives remains more important than ever.”
With no one securing a majority of more than 50% of the vote, it will force the runoff. Nicks had about 19% of the vote, or 2,943 votes. The race drew a total of 15,079 votes.
Nicks and Blount are both experienced politicians as each had run unsuccessfully for Jacksonville City Council in previous years. While Rogers ran for the Duval County School Board in 2016. District 5 was the only School Board race with more than two candidates.
District 7
And the final Duval County School Board seat up for grabs was District 7, which services the Southern area of Jacksonville surrounding the Interstate 95 and Interstate 295 interchange in the Baymeadows neighborhoods.
Melony Bolduc and Sarah Mannion squared off in the contest. Bolduc, a former teacher in both Duval and Clay counties, is another Moms for Liberty activist who was endorsed by DeSantis. Mannion is a lawyer who campaigned on maintaining high-quality teachers in schools.
Unofficial results show that Bolduc captured the seat with about 56% support, or 11,841 votes. Mannion garnered about 43%, or 9,286 votes. That School Board race saw 21,127 total ballots cast.
Bolduc unsuccessfully ran for School Board in 2016. Mannion claimed she was the best candidate for the District 7 seat because she was an active participant in the PTA and also took part in several parental advisory panels.
IN the general voting on election day Tuesday including other political races. there were 123,967 ballots cast out of the 630,116 registered voters in Duval County. The voter turnout amounted to about 19%. Duval County Supervisor of Elections Jerry Holland had told several media outlets he expected turnout to slightly exceed 20%.
Correction: This story initially reported. DeSantis endorsed Reggie Blount. He did not.
One comment
Loser Caucus
August 20, 2024 at 10:06 pm
Raymond Johnson and his Election Integrity Campaign, lost big tonight. Maleana Gay was trounced by Ginger Soud and Nathan Tocco was demolished by Dean Black. If any politician uses his campaigning in the future, you will probably lose.
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