Former Republican Party of Florida (RPOF) Chairman Lenny Curry defeated Jacksonville Mayor Alvin Brown, the first Democrat to hold that post in 20 years, in the second and final round of the mayoral election on Tuesday.
With 193 out of 199 precincts in, Curry led Brown by more than 5,500 votes, taking 51 percent of the vote while the Democrat claimed 49 percent. During the campaign, Curry sparred with Brown over taxes, the economy and rising crime on the First Coast. Curry also looked to portray himself as a businessman, contrasting his background with Browns career in the public sector.
Brown won the first round of the mayoral race back in March with 43 percent followed by Curry with 38 percent. City Councilman Bill Bishop, a Republican, placed third with 17 percent and he threw his support to Brown heading into the second round.
Democrats had the advantage in early voting but Curry did well on Election Day to pull out the win. Curry did far better than former Rep. Mike Hogan -- who Brown beat back in the final round of the 2011 mayoral race -- in mustering Republicans out to the polls, while less Democrats came out to vote this time around than they did four years ago.
National figures ranging from Republican presidential hopeful U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., to U.S. Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., came to the First Coast in the last days of the campaign to spur turnout.
Down ballot, Republican Mike Williams beat Democrat Ken Jefferson to replace Duval County Sheriff John Rutherford who is leaving his post after 12 years. Rutherford is going to run for the Republican nomination for the open congressional seat held by U.S. Rep. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., who is running for the U.S. Senate in 2016.
Also down ballot, almost a quarter century after he lost to Ed Austin, a fellow Democrat at the time, in the 1991 mayoral race, former Mayor Tommy Hazouri, who had been serving on the Duval County School Board, kept his political career going, winning an at-large Jacksonville City Council seat over Republican Jeff Youngblood.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or follow him on Twitter: @KevinDerbySSN
