Republican T.K. Waters won the special election for Jacksonville sheriff Tuesday night, beating out Democrat Lakesha Burton.
Waters will take office as soon as the election results are certified. Duval Chief Elections Officer Robert Phillips said he expects that to happen by Nov. 20.
Former Sheriff Mike Williams resigned after The Tributary reported he had violated city law by moving out of Duval County.
The expensive race for sheriff saw the two candidates raise more than $4 million, with Waters raising about $530,000 more than Burton.
Waters will need to run again in the city’s regularly scheduled March 2023 elections.
Gov. Ron DeSantis, former Sheriff Williams and much of the Republican establishment backed Waters in the election. He was the only Republican to run, while Burton had to beat out a field of four Democrats to make it to Tuesday’s runoff.