All Three Duval County School Board Races Head to November Runoffs

All three contested Duval County school board races will advance to November runoffs after no candidate secured a majority in the August primary election, setting up a series of decisive contests that could reshape the board's political direction. The races for Districts 2, 4, and 6 drew competitive fields, with no candidate reaching the threshold needed to avoid a general-election runoff.

The November ballots come as two current conservative board members—Vice Chair April Carney and Charlotte Joyce—are not seeking reelection, opening the possibility for shifts in the board's approach to issues that have dominated recent meetings, from book challenges to school consolidations. The outcomes will help determine how the district navigates persistent challenges including declining enrollment, school closure debates, teacher retention struggles, and maintaining its A-rating for student achievement.

What's happening

In the District 2 race, Republican Donovan Bradley captured 49% of the vote while Democrat Donna Westrich won 39%, sending both to the November runoff. Bradley, a Jacksonville native and Duval County Public Schools graduate, is campaigning on increasing school safety, expanding school choice options, career readiness programs, and teacher retention. Westrich brings two decades of public school classroom experience and has two sons currently in the district.

Bradley has raised $61,934 in campaign contributions and secured endorsements from current board members April Carney, Melody Bolduc, and Reginald Blount, along with City Council member Rory Diamond and the Fraternal Order of Police of Jacksonville. The District 2 seat is currently held by Carney, who is backed by the conservative advocacy group Moms for Liberty.

The District 4 contest features two registered Democrats: Rhodesia Butler, who won 39% of the vote, and James Jacobs, who secured 39% despite raising only $11,203 compared to Butler's nearly $20,000 in contributions. Jacobs, currently dean of students at Duval County Charter School at Westside, has received endorsements from local Republicans including City Council member Matt Carlucci. Jacobs previously ran unsuccessfully for City Council in 2017, 2019, and 2021.

Butler serves as area director for the Boys & Girls Club of Jacksonville and is a longtime business owner who spent 21 years as a dean of students and assistant principal. She attended District 4 schools for most of her education, and all three of her children went through Jacksonville public schools. Butler's platform emphasizes teacher retention, keeping District 4 schools open, and highlighting the district's strengths to attract families. She pointed to the half-cent sales tax and how it has funded new facilities in District 4 over the past four years as a key community interest.

In District 6, local realtor Lindsey Denmark won 34% of the vote while Clarence James, a police sergeant with the Duval County Public Schools Police Department, captured 21%. Both candidates have made reducing school violence a central campaign theme, citing fighting incidents in the thousands, though district officials have said they are unfamiliar with the specific numbers the candidates reference.

James has raised more than $100,000 in campaign funding, with significant contributions from the Jacksonville Fraternal Order of Police, Jacksonville Association of Firefighters, City Council member Kevin Carrico, and Rory Diamond, who has received backing from Moms for Liberty. Denmark considers addressing student discipline in District 6 her primary goal and has received support from current District 6 board member Charlotte Joyce, board vice-chair April Carney, and state Senator Clay Yarborough—all of whom have received financial or public endorsements from Moms for Liberty.

What this means for Duval County families

The November runoffs will determine how the school board approaches decisions that directly affect students and families across Jacksonville and Duval County. School board members set policy on everything from curriculum and textbooks to discipline procedures, school operating hours, and which campuses remain open. In a consolidated city-county like Jacksonville, the school board governs the entire county with the exception of the independent Baldwin district in western Duval.

Enrollment trends make these races particularly consequential. Duval County Public Schools has experienced declining student enrollment in recent years, forcing the district to consider school closures and consolidations to right-size its facility footprint and operate more efficiently. Board members must balance community attachment to neighborhood schools against fiscal realities and the educational impact of operating half-empty buildings. District 4, which Butler specifically highlighted, has been part of these facility discussions.

The financial stakes extend to how the district spends its half-cent sales tax revenue, which voters approved for capital improvements. That dedicated funding stream has enabled new construction and renovations, but board members decide which projects move forward and where the district invests in facilities versus potentially closing others. These capital decisions shape property values in neighborhoods around affected schools and influence where families choose to buy homes.

Impact on teachers and school culture

Teacher retention emerged as a priority for multiple candidates, reflecting a persistent challenge for the district. Florida's teacher shortage has hit urban districts particularly hard, and Jacksonville competes with surrounding counties for educators. School board policies on compensation, classroom autonomy, disciplinary support, and working conditions all factor into whether teachers stay or leave.

The board's political direction also affects the day-to-day environment in schools. Over the past two years, the current board has spent significant time reviewing and removing books from school library shelves, a process that has drawn both support and criticism from different segments of the community. School board races in Florida are legally nonpartisan, but candidates increasingly align with state and national political movements, and these affiliations shape how the board approaches curriculum materials, library policies, and what some call culture-war issues.

The endorsement patterns in these races signal how candidates might vote on such matters. Candidates backed by Moms for Liberty and conservative board members have typically supported more restrictive approaches to library books and curriculum content, while candidates emphasizing classroom experience and those without such endorsements have generally taken different positions. The composition of the board after November will determine whether the current approach continues or shifts.

What it means for school safety and discipline

Both District 6 candidates centered their campaigns on reducing school violence and fighting incidents, an issue that resonates with parents across the county. School board policies govern discipline procedures, security staffing levels, how schools handle conflicts, and whether the district emphasizes punitive or restorative approaches to student behavior.

The presence of a school police sergeant as a leading candidate reflects community concerns about safety, and his substantial fundraising from law enforcement organizations suggests support for maintaining or expanding police presence in schools. School resource officers and campus security are budget decisions the board oversees, and members also set policies on when law enforcement becomes involved in student discipline versus schools handling matters internally.

District 6's focus on discipline connects to a broader debate in urban school districts about how to create safe learning environments while avoiding what critics call a school-to-prison pipeline. Different board compositions can lead to markedly different policies on suspension rates, referrals to law enforcement, and investment in counselors and behavioral specialists versus security personnel.

What happens next

The three runoff races will appear on the November general election ballot. In Florida, nonpartisan school board elections go to a runoff if no candidate wins more than 50% in the first round, even if they receive a plurality. The higher-turnout general election typically draws different voters than August primaries, potentially changing the calculus for candidates and the ultimate outcomes.

Voters in Districts 2, 4, and 6 will receive ballots for their respective races. School board districts are geographic subdivisions of Duval County—only voters who live in each district can vote for that district's representative, though board members make policy for the entire district once elected. Campaign activity will continue through early November, with candidates seeking to consolidate support from voters who backed eliminated primary opponents.

The newly elected board members will take office shortly after the election results are certified and will immediately face the budget and policy decisions that defined the campaign debates: managing enrollment declines, determining which schools stay open, allocating the half-cent sales-tax capital funds, addressing teacher retention, and deciding the board's approach to library materials and curriculum controversies.

The November outcomes will position Duval County Public Schools' governance as Northeast Florida's largest school district continues adapting to regional growth patterns that have shifted enrollment toward St. Johns and Clay counties while Jacksonville's urban core sees fewer school-age children. How the board responds to these demographic pressures will shape educational options and neighborhood stability across the consolidated city-county for years to come.