Harvey Ward | |
---|---|
Mayor of Gainesville | |
Assumed office January 5, 2023 | |
Preceded by | Lauren Poe |
City Commissioner from Gainesville District 2 | |
In office 2017–2023 | |
Preceded by | Todd Chase [1] |
Succeeded by | Ed Book |
Personal details | |
Born | 1966or1967(age 56–57) [2] Gainesville,Florida,U.S. |
Political party | Democratic Party |
Spouse | Gillian Lord |
Children | 3 |
Residence(s) | Gainesville,Florida |
Harvey Ward (born 1966/1967) is an American politician and the mayor of Gainesville,Florida. Ward has lived in Gainesville his whole life and occupied the position of city commissioner from 2017 to 2023. [3] [4] [5]
Ward attended Eastside High School and graduated in 1985.[ citation needed ] He then enrolled at Santa Fe College in Gainesville,and eventually graduated from the University of Florida with a bachelor's degree in public relations. [6] Ward is married to Gillian Lord,the Associate Dean of the University of Florida's College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. [7] [8] Together,they have three daughters. Ward previously served as the Executive Director of the Holy Trinity Episcopal Foundation,and in several positions at WUFT-TV/FM. Ward has served on the Gainesville City Commission since 2017. [6]
Harvey Ward was elected to district 2 of the Gainesville City Commission in 2017,narrowly avoiding a run-off. He was re-elected in 2020 with more than two-thirds of the vote. Term-limits prevented Ward from running for a third term. He ran to be mayor of Gainesville and was elected by more than 5,000 votes. Despite being elected in a nonpartisan election,Ward is a registered Democrat [9] .
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Nonpartisan | Harvey Ward | 20,415 | 57.60% | |
Nonpartisan | Ed Bielarski | 15,026 | 42.40% | |
Total votes | 35,441 | 100.00 |
Ward defeated Bielarski in the mayoral runoff,and will be the mayor of Gainesville from 2022 to 2025. He will go on to replace incumbent mayor Lauren Poe. [10]
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Nonpartisan | Harvey Ward | 5,889 | 27.9 | |
Nonpartisan | Ed Bielarski | 5,570 | 26.4 | |
Nonpartisan | David Arreola | 3,242 | 15.4 | |
Nonpartisan | Gary Gordon | 3,044 | 14.4 | |
Nonpartisan | July Thomas | 2,119 | 10.1 | |
Nonpartisan | Ansaun Fisher | 449 | 2.1 | |
Nonpartisan | Gabriel Hillel | 273 | 1.3 | |
Nonpartisan | Donald Shepherd | 252 | 1.2 | |
Nonpartisan | Adam Rosenthal | 236 | 1.1 | |
Total votes | 21,074 | 100.00 |
Ward and Bielarski advance to a runoff election,defeating 7 other candidates. [12]
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Nonpartisan | Harvey Ward | 4,983 | 67.89% | |
Nonpartisan | David Walle | 2,357 | 32.11% | |
Total votes | 7,340 | 100.00 |
Ward defeated Walle in the two-way primary race,winning reelection in district 2. [13]
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Nonpartisan | Harvey Ward | 2,261 | 50.74% | |
Nonpartisan | Perry Clawson | 1,183 | 26.55% | |
Nonpartisan | Sheryl Eddie | 1,012 | 22.71% | |
Total votes | 4,456 | 100.00 |
Ward secured a narrow majority in his first city commission election,avoiding a runoff. [14]
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | Lee Pinkoson | 9,930 | 58.81% | |
Democratic | Harvey Ward | 6,955 | 41.19% | |
Total votes | 16,885 | 100.00 |
Ward's first election took place in 2014,where he lost to incumbent county commissioner Lee Pinkoson in the Democratic primary.
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