“I am so excited about creating a city that sees everybody, that brings everybody in, that gives everybody a voice, a city that truly does finally reach its absolutely amazing potential."
-- Jacksonville Mayor-elect Donna Deegan
An Epic Finish: Deegan is New Jax Mayor!
We did it! In a stunning upset, philanthropist and women's health advocate Donna Deegan (D), defeated Jax Chamber CEO Daniel Davis (R), becoming the first woman to serve as the City's lead executive. Deegan, a long-time Beaches resident, won support from Dems, GOP and NPA voters. Her victory capped a divisive and negative campaign waged by Davis and his supporters. In another historic race, former City Council member Joyce Morgan (D) was elected Property Appraiser, the first black woman to hold the position. Morgan bested Jason Fischer (R). Both
Davis and Fischer were endorsed by FL Governor Ron DeSantis. Read all about the election and its implications in this insightful Tributary article by Andrew Pantazi. Photo credit WPLG-TV10 Miami. Also of interest, Jax Beach residents gave a thumbs down to a referendum on the ballot proposal to increase height limits on a city-owned parcel of property downtown. Opponents argued the measure opened the door to reducing restrictions on building heights throughout the city. Many, many thanks to all the members of BAM, and partner groups like the Beaches Democratic Club, Indivisible Mandarin, Jax NOW, the Democratic Women's Information Network (DWIN), Florida Rising, Moms Demand Action, among others, for all their hard work in helping to secure this exciting win. All the canvassing, texting, phone banking, postcarding, letter-writing, sign-waving, social media posts, voter outreach, and fundraising were critical to Donna's success and victories by other progressive candidates! It was an amazing effort. Special kudos to the Duval Dems who gave us a blueprint for winning in 2024!
Find Out How We Did It at May 23 Meeting of Beaches Dems
Join the Beaches Democratic Club on Tuesday, May 23 at 6:30 p.m. at the Adele Grage Culture Center located at 716 Ocean Blvd, Atlantic Beach and hear Daniel Henry, Chair Democratic Executive Committee, break down how we got to victory in the Mayoral race! Register here.
Save the Date & Celebrate With Us!
Mark your calendars for the next BAM membership meeting on Thursday, June 8 at 7 p.m. at the Adele Grage Cultural Center in Atlantic Beach! We'll celebrate our victory in the Jacksonville City election, and take a look at the spate of disastrous laws passed during the recent session of the Florida Legislature. If you care about voter suppression, education, abortion rights, gun violence and similar topics, you won't want to miss it. We still have a lot of work to do!