The field for the Jacksonville mayoral election is set, with seven candidates on the ballot in the March 21 election.
Four Republicans, two Democrats and a no-party affiliated candidate qualified for the mayor’s race by the noon deadline Jan. 13, according to the Duval County Supervisor of Elections.
The winner will replace term-limited GOP Mayor Lenny Curry, who has held the office since 2015.
The Republicans are JAX Chamber CEO Daniel Davis, incumbent City Council members LeAnna Cumber and Al Ferraro and consultant Frank Keasler Jr.
Democrats on the ballot are Donna Deegan, the founder of nonprofit The Donna Foundation and former First Coast News anchor, and former state Sen. Audrey Gibson.
General contractor Omega Allen is running as a no-party affiliate. The Supervisor of Elections site shows Brian Griffin qualified as a write-in candidate. It does not show a party affiliation.
Although candidates can file with a party affiliation, the race is nonpartisan.
If no candidate gains 50% of the vote plus one, the two candidates with the highest totals will face a general election May 16.
Election filings show Deegan was the only candidate to qualify for the office by petition signature. The Supervisor of Elections required 6,558 signatures to make the ballot, which is 1% of registered Duval County voters as of the 2022 general election.
The remaining candidates wrote checks from their campaign accounts and qualified by fee — $13,800.96 for candidates registered with a political party and $9,200.64 for no-party affiliated.
The partisan fee is 6% of the Jacksonville mayor’s $230,016 annual salary. The no-party affiliated fee is $9,200.64, or 4% of the salary. A write-in candidate pays no fee.
Here is the candidate field:
• Allen, a Jacksonville native with an MBA from Jacksonville University, has previously run for mayor, finishing third in 2019 to Curry and Republican Anna Brosche.
• Cumber lives in San Marco, owns a consulting company, is a former teacher and has been the District 5 Council member since 2019.
• Davis lives in Ortega and is a former two-term Council member and former Florida House representative.
• Deegan is an Atlantic Beach resident and unsuccessfully challenged GOP U.S. Rep. John Rutherford in 2020 for the congressional seat.
• Ferraro, who lives in East Arlington, has been the District 2 Council member since 2015 and owns Ferraro Lawn Service.
• Gibson is a former minority leader in the state Senate and served in the state House from 2002 to 2010.
• Keasler, a Jacksonville native, has a degree in accounting from the University of North Florida and received a J.D. from Cumberland School of Law in 1984, according to his campaign website.