As Tuesday’s primary election results rolled in, attendees of the Florida Professional Firefighters’ election night watch party featuring the union’s endorsed candidates exploded with cheers and applause.
“Jack! Jack! Jack! Jack! Jack!” the crowd chanted.
Tallahassee City Commissioner Jack Porter won her reelection bid, locking in the status quo at city hall for now. However, that status quo could be upended in November, when the remaining city commission race is decided during the general election.
It was a hard-fought battle for Porter who faced attacks from political committees and participated in several contentious candidate forums. Still, she won more than 53% of the vote Tuesday, about 15 points more than second place finisher Rudy Ferguson.
Porter said she’s ready to continue serving Tallahassee residents.
“I'm mostly just thankful to the voters for putting their trust in me again, and I'm really excited to make these next four years count,” she said.
A few miles north at Vino Beano, Ferguson conceded the race in a room filled with his supporters, including Tallahassee Mayor John Dailey. Ferguson said he will continue serving his community.
“I am not angry, I'm not upset. I am grateful. I'm grateful because a lot of people in this room supported me, stood with me,” he said.
Meanwhile, The Tallahassee Commission Seat 2 race continues. No candidate received more than 50% of the vote, meaning there will be a runoff during the general election with the two top vote getters: former Mayor Dot Inman-Johnson and incumbent Commissioner Curtis Richardson
Inman-Johnson received the greatest share of support in the four-person race, bringing in a bit under 47%. She was at the same event as Porter and also celebrated with the firefighters. She thanked those who volunteered with her campaign and supported her, saying they are to thank for her performance.
“I think we did a tremendous job starting from scratch against a well-known incumbent, and I owe it all to those people in there who worked their hearts out,” she said.
Richardson received about 43.5% support. Outside his campaign celebration at Earley’s Kitchen, he told WFSU he and his team will work to find ways to close the gap for the general election in the coming days.
“There was a very low voter turnout, and in the General, there will be a much larger turnout with the presidential election being on the ballot and some other Senate, State Senate and House races. And so, we'll look at the results and see what we need to do more of in the areas that we need to concentrate on more than what we did in this primary race,” he said.
The outcome means the progressive faction at city hall, consisting of Porter and City Commissioner Jeremy Matlow, will hold on to their seats for the next two years. If Inman-Johnson wins in November, that faction would flip control of City Hall.