Donna Deegan Makes History as First Female Mayor of Jacksonville in 30 Years

In a shocking upset, Democrat Donna Deegan won the Jacksonville mayor’s race on Tuesday night, becoming the first Democrat to win the race in over 30 years and the first female mayor in the city’s history.

With all of the city’s 186 precincts reporting, Deegan had a 52% to 48% advantage over Republican Daniel Davis, who was vying to replace current Republican Mayor Lenny Curry, who was term-limited. Deegan came into Election Day as the decided underdog against Davis, who is the head of the city’s Chamber of Commerce and had a significant fundraising advantage.

About 217,000 people voted in the race, for a turnout of 33%. Deegan earned 52% of vote, beating Davis, according to unofficial results.

“Love won tonight, and we made history,” Deegan said in a statement. The win is a major shot of energy for Florida Democrats, who were trounced in the 2022 midterms and considered left for dead by the national party.

“We have a new day in Jacksonville because people chose unity over division — creating a broad coalition of people across the political spectrum that want a unified city,” Deegan said.