Former Jacksonville City Council member Reggie Gaffney Sr. has filed to run in District 10 in the 2027 elections, as he looks to return to the legislative body he served on from 2015 until 2022, when he resigned to pursue a state Senate seat.
Gaffney, a pragmatic Democrat who has worked well with Republicans throughout his political career, told Florida Politics that he was running locally because the people asked him to, and because he was encouraged to do so by many political heavyweights, including term-limited incumbent Ju’Coby Pittman.
He had explored a run for the state House to replace Rep. Angie Nixon, who is running for United States Senate this cycle and won’t pursue re-election.
With Gaffney having passed on that campaign, former Senate Democratic Leader Audrey Gibson is the sole candidate running in the heavily Democratic district north and west of the St. Johns River in Jacksonville.
His namesake son, Reggie Gaffney Jr., currently serves as a Jacksonville City Council member and is running for re-election. There is precedent for a father-son duo, as Matt Carlucci and Joe Carlucci both serve currently.
Current candidates include Democrats Keshan Gainey Chambliss, Vanessa Cullins Hopkins, Geraldine Ford-Hardin, and Marsha Shuri McIntyre Lowe. Libertarian Jerry Rorabaugh is also running.
The district is the most Democratic in the city, and the aforementioned Nixon, who is running against former Lt. Col. Alex Vindman for the Democratic Senate nomination, has expressed interest in running.
Gaffney’s entering the race would complicate that fallback scenario for the three-term legislator.
