Ballot finalized for three open Duval School Board races

Qualifying has ended and the field is set for Duval County’s three school board races, all of which are open this year.

In sprawling District 6, which stretches all the way from affluent Riverside, Avondale and Ortega all the way to the Baker County line, conservative Board Member Charlotte Joyce is term limited.

The battle to replace her has become the most expensive local school board race this cycle, with Duval County School Police Sergeant Clarence James raising $102,000 and real estate agent Lindsey Denmark raising $82,000 through the end of May.

Former Democratic City Council candidate Tammyette Thomas, paralegal Michelle Perry and former Naval officer Robert Stafford have also qualified.

Four candidates have also qualified in District 4 in northwest Jacksonville, where Board Member Darryl Willie is also term-limited. They are educator and entrepreneur Rhodesia Butler, non-profit director Alfreda Denson-Butler, 25-year DCPS employee James “Coach” Jacobs, and retired assistant principal Gracie Kearse-McCastler, who is a write-in candidate.

Incumbent District 2 Board Member April Carney announced in April she would not seek a second term, and has endorsed self-described conservative Christian Donovan Bradley to succeed her. So far, Bradley has significantly outraised both his opponents, educators Terence Myers and Donna Westrich.

Primary Election Day is August 18, with the top two vote-getters in each contest advancing to the General Election in November, if no candidate receives more than 50% of the vote.

While School board races are nonpartisan, Duval has been one of the counties most reshaped by Gov. Ron DeSantis’ push to get conservative school board members elected, with five of the seven current board members being endorsed by conservative advocacy group Moms for Liberty.

Joyce was first elected in 2018 and was reelected in 2022 with DeSantis’ and Moms for Liberty backing.

DeSantis and Moms for Liberty endorsed Carney, who defeated incumbent Elizabeth Andersen in 2021 and flipped the board to a conservative majority. That was the first year Moms for Liberty was established.

In 2024, three more conservative candidates won their races — Melody Bolduc, Reggie Blount, and Tony Ricardo. DeSantis did not endorse Blount, but Moms for Liberty did.

A fourth DeSantis-aligned candidate, local Moms for Liberty leader Becky Nathanson, came up just short in her challenge of Board Member Cindy Pearson, losing 51% to 49%. Pearson countered DeSantis’ endorsement of her challenger by presenting herself as a conservative and a Christian in campaign materials.