Donna Deegan leads in newly released Jacksonville Mayor’s race poll

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Duval voters are already casting ballots to decide the next Mayor of Jacksonville and a newly released poll from St. Pete Polls gives us our first glimpse into who they may be favoring.

Leading the pack of the seven candidates listed in the poll was Democrat Donna Deegan, who pulled nearly twice as much as any other candidate.

RELATED: Jacksonville City Council reopens special investigation committee on Cumber ties to failed JEA sale

Deegan had led in previous polls as well, but what is more surprising about the new findings is how the crowded Republican field is shaking out.

Deegan pulled 35 percent support from voters in the new poll.

READ: Donna Deegan announces run for Jacksonville Mayor

In an interview today she said, while the findings are certainly a welcome sign, she’s not taking a victory lap just yet.

“The most important polls to me are the polls that the voters that we talk to in the neighborhoods, walking, knocking doors, having community meetings, those are the voices that matter to me,” said Deegan.

In the Republican camp, Daniel Davis and Councilmember LeAnna Cumber have largely been seen as each other’s main competition.

Both candidates have multi-million-dollar war chests at their disposal.

The new poll shows 17.5 percent of voters support Davis, meanwhile, just 4.1 percent of voters said they’d vote for Cumber if the election were held today.

Councilmember Al Ferraro, with 10.6 percent support, clenched second place among Republican candidates.

“We never needed the millions of dollars of special interest money my opponents received. It’s the voters who decide elections, not lobbyists,” said Ferraro in a statement.

Former State Senator Audrey Gibson pulled the second most votes of any Democratic candidate with 10.2 percent support.

“I am undeterred!” Gibson said in response to the poll.

Only two candidates can advance to May, assuming no one candidate pulls more than 50 percent of the vote in the March Unitary Election.

READ: Committee investigating mayoral candidate Councilmember LeAnna Cumber starts its work

The poll showed Deegan besting both Cumber and Davis in a theoretical head-to-head in the runoff election.

But UNF Political Science Professor Dr. Michael Binder noted with nearly 20% of voters still undecided, there’s plenty of time left for things to change.

“There’s a lot of ‘don’t knows’ in that field. There is a window for Al Ferraro, right? There’s a window for LeAnna Cumber to come back,” said Binder.

Action News Jax reached out to the two candidates that polled the highest in each party for this story.

We did not hear back from the Davis campaign.

[SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter]

Click here to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action News Jax live.