JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Primary election day in Florida is Tuesday, August 23 and in Duval County the candidates vying for Jacksonville Sheriff are in for quite a marathon.
There are five candidates on the ballot; Republican TK Waters, Democrat's Lakesha Burton, Ken Jefferson, Tony Cummings and Wayne Clark. The goal for these candidates during the primary election is get 50 percent of the vote plus one. Then we'd have a clear winner, a new sheriff in town possibly until March 2023 when there will be yet another election.
If the two front runners according to a poll by The Public Opinion Research Laboratory (PORL) at the University of North Florida, T.K. Waters and Lakesha Burton get the two top spots when votes are tallied Tuesday, then there would be a runoff in November during the midterm election. Whoever wins will have a short term before having to run once again during the March 2023 Duval County General Election. There could also potentially be more candidates entering the race at that point.
“There are potentially four elections because if the March winner doesn't get 50 percent they go to the May runoff. So you could have four elections inside of nine months. Potentially we could be voting on Sheriff pretty frequently over the next several months," said University of North Florida Political Science Professor, Michael Binder.
The polls open up for the primary election in Duval County at 7 a.m. on August 23, 2022. For interviews with all five Jacksonville Sheriff’s candidates visit the First Coast News YouTube page.