Republican business owner Raul Arias beat Democrat Ramon Day in a heated contest for Jacksonville’s City Council District 11, representing Southeast Jacksonville.
This was the first time the Jacksonville area district held an election. The current District 11 councilman won election and re-election unopposed.
Arias far outraised Day, a real estate investor and former banking executive.
In the campaign, Day talked up his past experiences in finance and public service, including serving former U.S. Congressman Charles Bennett and serving as a volunteer on city commissions.
Arias, who owns three restaurants in Jacksonville, helped host a town hall with Republican mayoral candidate Daniel Davis.
The district has added more people than any other part of the city in the last decade, and thousands of acres of timberland are slated for development in the coming years.
