A photo shows a sea of campaign signs outside an early-voting site, most notably, Joyce Morgan for Duval County Property Appraiser 2023.
Joyce Morgan’s campaign sign sits among others outside the Highlands Regional Library early-voting site on March 19, 2023. [Andrew Pantazi/The Tributary] Credit: Andrew Pantazi / The Tributary

Jacksonville City Councilwoman Joyce Morgan beat former state representative Jason Fischer Tuesday to become Jacksonville’s newest property appraiser, the constitutional office with the most control over the city’s budget.

Morgan currently represents Arlington and formerly was an anchor for News4Jax.

Fischer, who also served as a former Duval County School Board member, campaigned on an explicitly partisan message, saying he was supported by law enforcement and painting his opponent, Morgan, as too liberal for Jacksonville.

The office assesses the value of real estate and corporate physical property, and it determines when certain property can be exempted from taxes. The decisions of the property appraiser significantly impacts the budget for the City of Jacksonville and Duval County Public Schools.

Fischer served Mandarin, Lakewood, Baymeadows and much of San Marco in the Legislature until November. Before that, he served on the Duval School Board. He briefly entertained a run for the state senate and for Congress before deciding to run for Duval County property appraiser.

Gov. Ron DeSantis supported Fischer’s bid, as did the Florida House speaker, the Florida Senate president and Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters.

Andrew Pantazi edits and reports for The Tributary. He previously worked as a reporter at The Florida Times-Union where he helped organize the newsroom's union with the NewsGuild-CWA. He and his wife,...