2023 Municipal Elections in Florida
Election fatigue has probably set in for most Floridians following the 2022 August Primary Election and November General Election, but 2023 has arrived, bringing Municipal Elections to much of the state.
Over 100 of Florida’s 411 cities, towns and villages conduct their municipal elections in odd years, focusing on city-issues and candidates using nonpartisan or unitary elections. The largest city in Florida – Jacksonville – will conduct its Municipal Election on March 21st. The current Mayor, Lenny Curry, is term-limited out of office and there are currently ten candidates filed to run for Mayor - https://fl.tallyed.com/Office/4ade6ef7-da8a-4efb-abfb-d12fa9731b69. Jacksonville’s nineteen City Council seats are up for election as well as four constitutional offices. Jacksonville’s Municipal Election is a Unitary Election, which means all candidates appear on a single ballot with their party affiliation identified and all voters in each electorate are eligible to vote. If one candidate receives 50% + 1 votes in the First Election, that candidate is declared the winner. If no candidate receives 50% + 1 votes in the First Election, the top two vote-getters move on to the Municipal General Election on May 16th. The winners of each election will begin their 4-year term on July 1, 2023.
Palm Beach County has the most cities conducting an election in 2023 – 19! These Municipal Elections will be held on March 14, 2023 as Nonpartisan Elections, which means all candidates appear on a single ballot without their party affiliation identified and all voters in each specified electorate are eligible to vote.
The City of Tampa will conduct their Municipal Election on March 7th. Pinellas County is conducting 14 municipal elections and Broward County is conducting 7 municipal elections.
Truly, Florida’s election season never sleeps. If you live in one of the municipalities conducting elections in 2023, expect your mailbox to be full of candidate advertisements, text messages touting candidates’ credentials and yard signs lining the streets encouraging you to get out and vote!