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.
As of 8 p.m., with 159 of the total 160 voting precincts 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.
With 23 of the 23 precincts in that district, Ricardo had 53.74%, or 8,726 votes. Ebri had 46.27%, or 7,511 ballots cast for her. There were 16,237 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 50.94%, or 7,961 votes. Nathanson claimed 49.06%, or 7,667 ballots. There were a total of 15,628 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 will require a runoff race in the Nov. 5 General Election regardless of the fact that one of the 23 precincts in the district had not reported or been counted as of 8 p.m. Blount had 40.81%, or 5,757 votes. Rogers had 39.88%, or 5,626 votes.
With no one securing a majority of more than 50% of the vote, it will force the runoff. Nicks had 19.31% of the vote, or 2,724 votes. The race drew a total of 14,107 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.
Blount also was the candidate who picked up the endorsement from DeSantis in the District 5 race.
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.
With all 23 precincts reported, Bolduc captured the seat with 56.49% support, or 11,339 votes. Mannion garnered 43.19%, or 8,734 votes. That School Board race saw 20,73 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 117,596 ballots cast out of the 630,116 registered voters in Duval County. There is still the one precinct outstanding but the voter turnout amounted to 18.66%. Duval County Supervisor of Elections Jerry Holland had told several media outlets he expected turnout to slightly exceed 20%.
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.