Jacksonville City Council elections: Who won, what's undecided and what does it all mean?

Steve Patterson, Florida Times-Union
·2 min read
Tuesday's elections to Jacksonville's City Council, shown here in a 2017 photo, left close to half of the 19 seats undecided until the May 16 general election.
Tuesday's elections to Jacksonville's City Council, shown here in a 2017 photo, left close to half of the 19 seats undecided until the May 16 general election.

Tuesday’s Jacksonville City Council election left seven seats undecided until the May 16 general election to complete the panel’s 19-person roster.

The new council will take office July 1. Here’s what we know about the cast so far:

How Republican is it?

Eleven of the 12 seats decided so far will belong to Republicans and one runoff is between two Republicans. Five other runoffs will involve a Republican and a Democrat. Republicans hold 14 seats now.

Are there any women?

Just one so far. Council member Ju’Coby Pittman has locked up the District 10 seat. Candidates Tameka Gaines Holly in District 8 and Tyrona Clark-Murray in District 9 will be in runoffs against member Reggie Gaffney Jr. and candidate Mike Muldoon, respectively. There are six women on the council today.

And Black members?

There will be fewer Black members than the seven in office now. Besides Pittman, Council President Terrance Freeman was reelected to an at-large seat and former TV journalist Ken Amaro won the District 1 seat. Either Gaffney or Gaines Holly will raise the total to four and Clark-Murray in District Nine and candidate Rahman Johnson in District 14 are in runoffs that could raise the number as high as six.

How many members will be new to the council July 1?

Amaro, District 3’s Will Lahnen and District 5’s Joe Carlucci, son of at-large member Matt Carlucci, locked up first-time wins, while pairs of potential first-time winners have runoffs in Districts 2, 7, 11 and At-Large Group 5.  Nine incumbents won reelection. Runoffs in Districts 8 and 9 each involve a seated member and a challenger and the District 14 contest between Rahman Johnson and John Draper involves a potential first-time winner and a former member, Draper, seeking an office he held in the 1990s.

So, which seats have been decided?

District 1, Amaro

District 3, Lahnen

District 4, Kevin Carrico

District 5, Joe Carlucci

District 6, Michael Boylan

District 10, Pittman

District 12, Randy White

District 13, Rory Diamond

At-Large Group 1, Freeman

At-Large Group 2, Ron Salem

At-Large Group 3, Nick Howland

At-Large Group 4, Matt Carlucci

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: What will Jacksonville's next City Council look like?