2015 Jacksonville mayoral election

2015 Jacksonville mayoral election

←  2011 March 24, 2015 (blanket) May 19, 2015 (runoff) 2019  →

Nominee Lenny Curry Alvin Brown Bill Bishop Party Republican Democratic Republican First round vote 70,891 78,713 30,944 First round percentage 38.40% 42.64% 16.76% Second round vote 103,626 98,349 Second round percentage 51.31% 48.69%

Runoff results by precinct Curry:      50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90% Brown:      50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%     >90% Curry/Brown tie:     50%

Mayor before election Alvin Brown Democratic Elected mayor Lenny Curry Republican

The 2015 Jacksonville mayoral election took place on March 24, 2015, to elect the Mayor of Jacksonville, Florida.

The election is a blanket primary, with all candidates from all parties running together on the same ballot. As no candidate received a majority of the vote, a runoff was held between the top two vote-getters on May 19, 2015.

Incumbent Democratic Mayor Alvin Brown ran for re-election to a second term in office. ^[1] He was narrowly defeated by Republican Lenny Curry by a margin of 5,285 votes. ^[2]

Candidates

Democratic Party

Declared

• Alvin Brown, incumbent Mayor ^[1]

Republican Party

Declared

• Bill Bishop, Jacksonville City Councilman ^[3]
• Lenny Curry, former chairman of the Republican Party of Florida ^{[4] [5]}

Withdrew

• Jim Overton, Duval County Property Appraiser and former Jacksonville City Councilman ^{[6] [7]}

Declined

• Bill Gulliford, President of the Jacksonville City Council and former Mayor of Atlantic Beach ^{[1] [8]}
• Mike Hogan, Chairman of the Florida Public Employee Relations Commission and candidate for Mayor in 2011 ^{[1] [9]}

Independent Party of Florida

Did not qualify

• Tiffany Wingo, student ^{[4] [10]}

Independent

Declared

• Omega Allen, former member of the Northwest Jacksonville Trust Fund Advisory Committee ^[4]

Withdrew

• Marvin Kramer, retired attorney and prosecutor ^{[11] [10]}

Primary election

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Omega Allen (I)	Bill Bishop (R)	Alvin Brown (D)	Lenny Curry (R)	Other	Undecided
UNF [12]	February 23–27, 2015	546	± 4%	2%	11%	37%	25%	<1%	25%
St. Pete Polls [13]	January 23–25, 2015	1,247	± 2.8%	—	8.9%	37.9%	30.6%	15.7%	6.8%

Results

Jacksonville mayoral election, 2015 ^[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Alvin Brown (incumbent)	78,713	42.64%
	Republican	Lenny Curry	70,891	38.40%
	Republican	Bill Bishop	30,944	16.76%
	Independent	Omega Allen	4,046	2.19%
Total votes			184,594	100.00%

Runoff

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Alvin Brown (D)	Lenny Curry (R)	Undecided
St. Pete Polls [15]	March 25, 2015	1,076	± 3.0%	49.4%	46.1%	4.5%
St. Pete Polls [16]	January 23–25, 2015	1,247	± 2.8%	41.5%	45.3%	13.2%
University of North Florida [17]	February 10–17, 2014	442	± 4.66%	45%	25%	30%

Results

Jacksonville mayoral election, 2015 ^[18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Lenny Curry	103,626	51.31%
	Democratic	Alvin Brown (incumbent)	98,349	48.69%
Total votes			201,975	100.00%
	Republican gain from Democratic

Hypothetical polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Alvin Brown (D)	Bill Gulliford (R)	Undecided
University of North Florida [17]	February 10–17, 2014	442	± 4.66%	43%	28%	29%

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Alvin Brown (D)	Jim Overton (R)	Undecided
University of North Florida [17]	February 10–17, 2014	442	± 4.66%	42%	31%	27%

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Alvin Brown (D)	John Rutherford (R)	Undecided
University of North Florida [17]	February 10–17, 2014	442	± 4.66%	41%	35%	24%

Endorsements

Alvin Brown

• Bill Nelson, U.S. senator (D-FL) ^[19]
• Bill Bishop, City Councilman; finished third in the blanket primary ^[20]

Lenny Curry

• Rick Scott, Governor of Florida ^[21]

References

1. "Early look at 2015 mayor's race: Republicans seek candidate to challenge Alvin Brown". The Florida Times-Union. January 11, 2014. Retrieved December 10, 2014.
2. "How did Lenny Curry win mayoral race? Republican vote came out in force". The Florida Times-Union. May 20, 2015. Retrieved May 23, 2015.
3. "Councilman Bill Bishop to run for Mayor of Jacksonville in 2015". Jacksonville Business Journal. March 28, 2014. Retrieved December 10, 2014.
4. "GOP candidate Lenny Curry files for 2015 mayor's race". Jacksonville Business Journal. June 3, 2014. Retrieved December 10, 2014.
5. "Lenny Curry will run for Jacksonville Mayor". First Coast News. June 3, 2014. Archived from the original on July 26, 2014. Retrieved December 10, 2014.
6. "Duval Property Apprasier Jim Overton To Run For Mayor Of Jacksonville". WJCT. March 4, 2014. Retrieved December 10, 2014.
7. "Jim Overton won't run for mayor, says he couldn't raise enough money to win". Financial News & Daily Record. April 22, 2014. Retrieved December 10, 2014.
8. "After months of thought, Bill Gulliford decides against running for Jacksonville mayor". Financial News & Daily Record. July 29, 2014. Retrieved December 10, 2014.
9. "Mike Hogan's decision caps 'very good day' for Lenny Curry camp". Jax Daily Record. January 5, 2015. Retrieved January 12, 2015.
10. "Reporting group (Election/Committees) : 2015 Unitary General (5/19/2015)". Duval County Supervisor of Elections. Retrieved March 25, 2015.
11. "Bill Gulliford won't run for Jacksonville mayor". Financial News & Daily Record. July 29, 2014. Retrieved December 10, 2014.
12. UNF
13. St. Pete Polls
14. "Summary Results - Election Night Polling". Duval County Supervisor of Elections. March 24, 2015. Retrieved March 25, 2015.
15. St. Pete Polls
16. St. Pete Polls
17. University of North Florida
18. "Summary Results - Unofficial Results". Duval County Supervisor of Elections. May 19, 2015. Retrieved May 23, 2015.
19. David Bauerlein (April 1, 2015). "U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson endorses Mayor Brown for re-election citing bipartisan leadership". The Florida Times-Union . Retrieved April 3, 2015.
20. "Bishop endorses Brown for re-election; Curry camp says Bishop reneged on promise to stay neutral". Jacksonville Times-Union. Retrieved May 21, 2015.
21. Nate Monroe (March 30, 2015). "Gov. Rick Scott backs Lenny Curry over Mayor Alvin Brown". The Florida Times-Union . Retrieved March 31, 2015.