JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Polls will open at 7 a.m. Tuesday in a special election to replace the Jacksonville City Council seat left vacant when Tommy Hazouri died in September.
News4JAX is getting a good indication that the race for the At-Large City Council Group 3 seat is neck and neck.
Democrat Trayce Polson and Republican Nick Howland are facing off in this special election. News4JAX was with both candidates on Monday as they were wrapping up their campaigns.
Polson was going door to door in a neighborhood near Edward Waters University.
“This isn’t an R thing or a D thing. This is about the people of the city and what we all need to move forward,” Polson said.
Howland was at the Republican headquarters Monday morning, working on getting the vote out. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis was helping him with robocalls.
“It’s been a thrill. It’s been six months, and there’s just one day left. We’re looking forward to tomorrow and seeing a great result,” Howland said.
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With the campaigning wrapping up, News4JAX asked prospective voters like Jasmine Phillips if it’s working.
“I didn’t really look into it. I haven’t heard enough about it,” said Phillips, who added that she won’t be voting.
At the election center on the Northside, work was underway to get the precincts ready for Tuesday. Election workers were picking up supplies and ballots before the polls open at 7 a.m. Tuesday.
Earlier this month, Duval County Supervisor of Elections Mike Hogan was calling for a 15% turnout. Now, he says that number is slightly shifting.
“So we have reevaluated. There was a lot of activity in the last three days of early voting, so we are looking at probably pushing 17% turn out,” Hogan said.
Here is why observers say it’s going to be a close election.
So far, 77,761 ballots have been cast in early voting and by mail.
Of that, we know that 4,000 more Democrats have voted than Republicans, but the big factor is the independent voters.
More than 7,500 have already cast their votes. And a poll conducted by the University of North Florida that was released last week shows those independent voters are going for Howland by a 2 to 1 margin.
One other note on voting mail ballots: 247 of them have signatures that can’t be verified. Those voters have been sent notices to fix them. So far, 74 have responded. Those who have not responded have until this Thursday to do so.
In a close race like some predict this will be, those few ballots could play a big factor in determining a winner.
Even though this is only a local election and a small one at that, it’s gaining some national attention from national TV. One broadcast network has been checking in with election staff and has been telling them Jacksonville is a good indication of how future elections could go.