JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — It appears Republican T.K. Waters will become Jacksonville's next top cop.
With 143/186 precincts reporting as of 7:45 p.m., Waters will finish former Sheriff Mike Williams's term after he announced his retirement in June.
Waters quickly took the lead against Democrat Lakesha Burton and stayed there.
Williams' retirement follows controversy over whether he violated the city charter by moving out of Duval County.
The election in March will choose Jacksonville's sheriff for the next term.
Waters ran on the idea that with the exponential growth of Jacksonville’s population, it's time to build up JSO and put more officers on the street.
"It's very important that we grow our numbers to proactively patrol because that helps tremendously in a couple different ways," Waters previously told First Coast News. "It helps restore trust, team building with our community, and it helps us to be in places where we can’t be at this point because we are running thin."
Waters was endorsed by former officer Ken Jefferson. Jefferson was also in the sheriff's race prior to the August special election, on the Democratic Party ticket.
Burton and Waters made a final push for their campaigns Monday evening when they were hosted and questioned by a group of religious congregations called ICARE.
Some say the race got nasty and in October a group of faith leaders held a news conference to discuss their frustration.
Waters accused also Burton of failing to pay property taxes which was later deemed an error by the mortgage company, not Burton, and the issue was resolved.