{"id":98550,"date":"2025-12-29T09:47:18","date_gmt":"2025-12-29T09:47:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/98550\/"},"modified":"2025-12-29T09:47:18","modified_gmt":"2025-12-29T09:47:18","slug":"10-stories-that-shaped-jacksonville-politics-in-2025-and-possibly-beyond","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/98550\/","title":{"rendered":"10 stories that shaped Jacksonville politics in 2025 … and possibly beyond"},"content":{"rendered":"

For yet another year, it was hard to nail down what the biggest stories locally were.<\/p>\n

In one sense, the scene was static. Jacksonville\u2019s City Council and Mayor continued to spar, but it\u2019s called a strong Mayor government for a reason.<\/p>\n

In another sense, we\u2019re in what stock traders call a consolidation period, as plans are laid for 2026\u2019s state elections and 2027\u2019s local vote.<\/p>\n

We now have plenty of sample size to deduce that Jacksonville\u2019s current Democratic Mayor likely isn\u2019t politically vulnerable in the way\u00a0Alvin Brown might have been during equivalent points in his first and only term in City Hall \u2026 though there\u2019s still time to change that.<\/p>\n

Here are the Top 10 Jacksonville stories of 2025:<\/p>\n

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\u2014 Deegan holds on (No. 1): It\u2019s almost time for prospective 2027 opponents to get in the race to replace Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan. Otherwise, they had better reconcile themselves to a full eight years and the reality that they will never be elected to replace her. Deegan weathered a series of storms that were seen as potentially difficult, such as the back-and-forth about General Counsel Michael Fackler and the handgun registry that seemed like such a big deal last Spring but hasn\u2019t led to much. But in the end, who has stood up ahead of 2027? Elections Supervisor Jerry Holland is telling people he\u2019s running, but whether he gets meaningful donor class support remains to be seen. Other Republicans are dipping their toes in the water. But anyone who gets in right now is doing so as a serious underdog, and at a time when indications are that there is little momentum for them.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Curry complications (No. 2): Former Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry didn\u2019t go away after leaving City Hall \u2026 and it\u2019s to Deegan\u2019s detriment. Curry, a former Republican Party of Florida Chair, wasn\u2019t thrilled when Ballard Partners lost lobbying contracts when Deegan was elected, and he has stepped up his critiques since. He says he doesn\u2019t want to run for Mayor. But also says he would win if he did run. Deegan and Curry have squabbled over policy issues for more than two years now. Curry took a leading role in advocating for a 1\/8 mill property tax cut<\/a> that the current administration supported. Deegan modified pension reform that Curry pushed through by creating a path for police and fire to enter the Florida Retirement System<\/a>. If a serious opponent emerges for Deegan, Curry could be a problem. But as of right now, that\u2019s a big if.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Stadium vindication (No. 3): The Jacksonville Jaguars at this writing have a path to the top seed in the playoffs. While Denver still has pole position despite the Jags going into Mile High and scoring a statement win, the Jaguars won the biggest game of the season on the road and left the Broncos looking as bad as they have all year. In terms of sports, this is the ultimate feel-good story for a city that derives more of its identity from its NFL team than anywhere else south of Green Bay. But its political punch is even bigger. Those who were skeptical about spending money on a stadium renovation and pushing back pension payments to do so look to have lost the argument to those who prioritize the NFL over everything else.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Wiles\u2019 world (No. 4): The Most Powerful Woman in the World? That\u2019s what President Donald Trump calls her and we close out 2025 not looking to argue with him. There may have been bumps in the road courtesy of Vanity Fair, but the fact is that a local still holds one of the most important political positions anywhere. This would have been the top story perhaps if Jacksonville\u2019s local government had managed to get anything out of this unique, and necessarily temporary, dynamic. But it\u2019s hard to imagine a Democratic Mayor being able to, given the partisan pique that characterizes the entire political process these days.<\/p>\n

\u2014 School daze (No. 5): The Duval County School Board has become more assertive in recent months. On issues ranging from decisions to close underused schools to asserting the need for its own legal representation, the right-of-center Board has forced locals to think about education in a different way \u2026 even those who don\u2019t have students in schools. Individual Board members like Chair Charlotte Joyce have stepped up to defend prerogatives of the panel despite resistance from the City Council. What does this ultimately lead to? At this point, that\u2019s an open question. But it\u2019s one this current permutation of the Board will force.<\/p>\n

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\u2014\u00a0Renner\u2019s run (No. 6): He\u2019s not the front-runner in the Governor\u2019s race, but former House Speaker Paul Renner may prove to have staying power. The one-time candidate for the House from Jacksonville\u2019s Westside drew his share of scoffing when he announced his candidacy this year. But his quiet, socially conservative leadership is keeping him in the game without endorsements from Gov. Ron DeSantis (who, when Renner announced his campaign, asked \u201cGovernor of what?\u201d) and President Donald Trump, who backs Byron Donalds.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Go Gators (No. 7): By this time next year, operations should be humming at Jacksonville\u2019s downtown graduate campus for the University of Florida, transforming Lavilla as we know it. Business, health care and engineering degrees will emerge, along with the Florida Semiconductor Institute. A total of $300 million of public and private money has already been committed to the build, and by the end of the decade, we won\u2019t be able to remember what Jacksonville was like without it.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Nixon\u2019s next move (No. 8): Arguably the most left-wing politician to get elected in Jacksonville history, state Rep. Angie Nixon of House District 13 has not been especially effective in Tallahassee. So she\u2019s exploring going to Washington as a candidate for U.S. Senate, or to the Jacksonville City Council in 2027. She\u2019s been doing a listening tour around the state to figure it out or road test her message. Nature abhors a vacuum, however, and two political vets \u2014 former state Sen. Audrey Gibson and former Councilman Reggie Gaffney \u2014 are vying for her seat.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Bowling over (No. 9): Was it a power struggle in the Mayor\u2019s Office? Chief Administrative Officer Karen Bowling was the biggest name to leave the Deegan administration in 2025, and for a time there was a lot of talk. Republicans who hadn\u2019t praised anything in the Mayor\u2019s Office suddenly had plenty of compliments. People closer to the Mayor\u2019s Office said her departure essentially was addition by subtraction, questioning her work ethic. It\u2019s Mike Weinstein\u2019s job now \u2026 but aren\u2019t they all in the end?<\/p>\n

\u2014\u00a0Budget compromise (No. 10): Divided government often leads to paralysis, then compromise. A good example of that this year was when the Jacksonville City Council passed its Fiscal Year 2025-26 budget. While conservatives got a 1\/4 mill cut on property taxes, the main event of the evening ultimately went against them. Republican Rory Diamond carried through on his proposal to stop city funding for abortions and related services, so-called diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, and undocumented immigrants, but Democrats and a few Republican members held firm. Ultimately, the spending plan passed without the culture war language.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For yet another year, it was hard to nail down what the biggest stories locally were. In one…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":98551,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[41309,5890,4302,116,4040,118,117,8541,4116,18571],"class_list":["post-98550","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-jacksonville","tag-alvin-brown","tag-donna-deegan","tag-duval-county-school-board","tag-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville-city-council","tag-jacksonville-headlines","tag-jacksonville-news","tag-karen-bowling","tag-lenny-curry","tag-rory-diamond"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98550","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=98550"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98550\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/98551"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=98550"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=98550"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=98550"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}