Gainesville voters Tuesday selected incumbent Desmon Duncan-Walker and newcomer James Ingle to sit on the City Commission for terms starting in January.
In one of two at-large seats on the dais, Ingle will represent the entire city. He received 61% (8,592) of the vote while Fareed Johnson got 39% (5,401).
“Thank you so much to everyone who helped, donated, volunteered, and voted,” Ingle said on Facebook. “I have been involved in politics and activism here for a long time and it is truly touching and humbling to see this kind of love from a city I care about so deeply.”
Duncan-Walker will continue to represent District 1 after earning 78% of the vote. Her opponent, Michael Perkins, garnered 22% of the vote. Duncan-Walker earned 2,029 total votes compared to 576.
“Together, we’ve achieved so much for District 1,” Duncan-Walker said in a press release. “I look forward to continuing our work, strengthening our community, and building on the progress we’ve made.”
In total, the Alachua County primary election had a 22.6% voter turnout.
Commissioner Cynthia Chestnut will also enter her second term on the City Commission in January. No one qualified to run against her in June, allowing her to run unopposed and remain off the ballot.
Chestnut told Mainstreet that it was a relief to go unopposed, and she thanked voters for their confidence in her while listing objectives for her second term.
Ingle ran against Commissioner Ed Book in 2022, losing in the closest city race by around 330 votes.
To learn more about the winning candidates, you can read their responses to Mainstreet’s election questionnaire along with links to their websites.
Wokesville stays Woke, and then some. Keep your hands off GRU! Remember you were fired.
I am happy that Gainesville will continue to have competent representation within the City Commission! Congratulations to all winners!
I am, however, dissipointed to see that extremely low voter turnout. Now this definitely needs great attention. We need to work on getting more citizens to participate in the election process.
As members of this community, we must strive to increase citizen participation in making changes in Gainesville. We must encourage the residents of this city to care about what happens here! With only 22% of registered voter turnout, we’ve got a lot of work to do!!!!