Jacksonville sheriff: T.K. Waters outpolls Lakesha Burton in race spotlighting violent crime
T.K. Waters clinched the position of Jacksonville’s next sheriff Tuesday, outpolling fellow Sheriff’s Office veteran Lakesha Burton for a job that must be won again in the spring.
With election results from nearly all of Duval County's 186 precincts, Waters held a lead of roughly 35,000 ballots and 55.4% of the vote, an insurmountable lead over Burton's 44.6% support.
Waters, a Republican and the retired chief of investigations for the Sheriff's Office, built a lead with a campaign that touted support from neighboring sheriffs as well as police and firefighter unions while deriding Burton as “too radical for Jacksonville.”
Burton, a Democrat who retired this year as assistant chief of the Arlington police zone, campaigned on curbing violent crime citywide and celebrated a reported 16 percent crime drop within her district.
Election results: See results from all local and statewide races
Close race: Jacksonville sheriff race comes down to the wire between Lakesha Burton and T.K. Waters
October debate: Lakesha Burton and T.K. Waters square off in tense Jacksonville sheriff race debate. Here are their plans
Sheriff WIlliams retires: Jacksonville Sheriff Mike Williams announces his retirement after move to Nassau County
Waters, 51, campaigned as “a uniter who gets results,” but voices in both campaigns attacked their opponents’ track records and impact on crime.
Campaign mailers supporting Burton argued that violent crime had risen 19 percent in a time when Waters was in charge of a Sheriff’s Office violent crimes task force, concluding that “T.K. Waters doesn’t know how to reduce violent crime.”
Ads for Waters funded by the Duval County Republican Party were more personal, saying “it’s a fact we can’t trust Lakesha Burton.”
A mailer noted that Burton, 46, has a criminal record — she has acknowledged stealing and reselling a television to pay an electric bill early in her life, before her law enforcement career. The ad also asserted that Burton “associates with radicals,” “called our police racists,” didn't pay property taxes and “can’t be trusted with our safety.” The ad also faulted her for accepting campaign money from Black Lives Matter activists.
Waters had finished first in a five-way special election in August with 47 percent of the vote, creating a need for a runoff because no one gathered more than 50 percent of the vote. Burton had 33 percent in the August voting where the remaining three candidates were also Democrats.
The election only secures the sheriff's seat for Waters until next year because the vote was a special election to complete the term former Sheriff Mike Williams left unfinished when he retired after moving outside Duval County and violating a residency requirement.
Sheriff Pat Ivey was appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis to hold the seat temporarily, but he didn't seek to be elected and both men endorsed Waters.
Waters can be challenged for the seat again during the city's 2023 elections, which has first and second rounds of elections scheduled for for March 21 and May 16, respectively.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jacksonville sheriff: Waters beats Burton with police, fire backing
