Mayor Lenny Curry will be spending the next four years at City Hall after Jacksonville voters re-elected him to a second term on Tuesday.
Curry beat his closest competitor - fellow Republican and former City Council President Anna Lopez Brosche - by 49,141 votes, according to unofficial results posted by the Duval County Supervisor of Elections on Tuesday night.
Related: 2019 Jacksonville Election Returns
Of the 146,721 votes cast in the mayoral race, Curry raked in 57.6 percent, or 84,545, more than enough to win the election outright and avoid a May runoff. Brosche ended the night with 35,404 votes, or 24.13 percent.
The two other mayoral candidates, independent Omega Allen and Republican Jimmy Hill, a former Atlantic Beach City Councilman, finished the night with 10.5 and 7.5 percent of the vote, respectively.
“Four years ago, I promised you I would focus on public safety, the pension crisis, educational opportunities for young people, invest in your neighborhoods and create jobs,” Mayor Curry told a crowd of cheering supporters gathered at the Hyatt Regency Jacksonville for an election night watch party on Tuesday. “And over the last four years, I've honored those promises. And I believe that's why you've reelected me - because I had a record to run on.”
Going forward, Curry said his focus will remain on public safety through investments in the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office and the Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department, as well as investments in after school programs with the Kids Hope Alliance.
Curry also said he would be bringing the nonprofit Cure Violence to Jacksonville to help reduce crime.
Related: Jacksonville Leaders Meet With Nonprofit That Promises To ‘Cure’ Violent Crime
Additionally, Curry stressed the importance of investing in downtown development.
“I’ve often said you can’t be a suburb of nowhere,” he said. “That’s why downtown matters.”
But he said investments won’t come at the expense of Jacksonville’s other neighborhoods.
“We're going to take care of your sidewalks, your roads and your parks,” he said to loud cheers. “But we're going to make downtown a destination: residential, retail, sports, art and entertainment. You will not recognize downtown in four years.”
He closed the night with a call for unity in Jacksonville, harkening back to his “One City, One Jacksonville” declaration, made shortly after he was first elected Mayor.
“At my inauguration, we began the conversation of ‘One City, One Jacksonville,’ and many were skeptical at the time,” he explained. “I understand skepticism of ‘One City, One Jacksonville,’ and I understand why it remains. And that is because this theme, this idea, is incredibly fragile.”
The best examples of the city coming together as “One City,” Curry said, were in the aftermath of tragedies like Hurricane Irma, where everybody pulled together to help their neighbors.
“Nobody cared about backgrounds, or differences, or political parties,” he said. “We were ‘One City, One Jacksonville.’”
But he said he’s seen his vision of ‘One City, One Jacksonville,’ during artistic, cultural and sporting events as well.
“So my challenge to you, to me, to our community, is to strive to be ‘One City, One Jacksonville’ every single day,” said Curry.
Brendan Rivers can be reached at brivers@wjct.org, 904-358-6396 or on Twitter at @BrendanRivers.
