JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Election day in Duval County is less than two weeks away and we're taking a closer look at the Supervisor of Elections Race.
Republican Mike Hogan is running against Democrat Tracie Davis, each hoping to fill the spot of Jerry Holland, who has held the seat since 2005.
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Both candidates are very passionate about this race. They said they want to keep up the job that Jerry Holland has done for nearly ten years, and Holland says either of them would be a good fit for the position.
2015 Jacksonville Voter's Guide l Voting Locations, Times
Davis and Hogan believe they have the experience the job needs.
Davis has been with the Supervisor of Elections Office for 13 years, including serving as Deputy Supervisor since 2011.
"During that time, we've conducted 44 elections for 555,000 people so I have that experience, with managing budgets and training poll workers -- things I've done prior to each election -- helping to expand early voting to the 17 sites we have now and other things we've done since I've been there," said Davis.
Hogan most recently served as chairman of the state Public Employee Relations Commission. He also served as Duval County tax collector and in the Florida house, where he said he was chairman of the committee that improved Florida's election laws.
"That reform brought about a number of changes, most importantly, the way the ballot were handled... no more butterfly ballots and handling chads. We also instituted early voting -- people really love. If you watch the numbers this week, it's been about 3,000 a day," said Hogan.
He believes Jerry Holland has done very well keeping up with technology, something Hogan said is so important for running successful elections.
"Information tech is changing so fast, it's almost an antique in six months. You have to constantly make sure you have the right systems to employ the data," said Hogan.
Davis agrees Holland has done great things for the county's elections. She said she's interested in bringing online registration to Florida.
"It would eliminate the cost of printing. postage costs. the errors when people are completing voter registration applications and it would also make it easier so that's how were going to move our elections office into a better direction," said Davis.
Holland has faith in both candidates and said whoever is elected, he hopes they remember the importance of their job.
"Everyone knows we're here to make sure everyone has a seat at the table, no matter what party -- whether the candidate is the same party or not -- we will treat every party the same, thats the reputation this office has," said Holland.
Election day is Tuesday, March 24th. Early voting runs through Sunday, March 22.