Jacksonville mayoral candidates Daniel Davis and Donna Deegan will participate in a live, televised debate 7 p.m. April 20 at the University of North Florida.
The debate is co-hosted by UNF and Action News Jax, the university announced March 30. It will be moderated by Action News anchors John Bachman and Tenikka Hughes and broadcast by CBS 47 and Fox 30.
Deegan, the Donna Foundation nonprofit founder and former First Coast News anchor topped the field of seven candidates in the March 21 unitary election with 39.43% of the vote to 24.72% for Davis, president and CEO of JAX Chamber.
Because no candidate gained 50% of the vote plus one, Deegan and Davis will face off in a May 16 runoff election.
The event will be at UNF’s Lazzara Performance Hall and will not be open to the public. It will be attended by a small number of invited guests and the news media.
“The University of North Florida is proud to host this debate in partnership with Action News Jax,” UNF President Moez Limayem said in a news release. “This is an important race for our city’s future, and UNF is pleased to provide a forum for mayoral candidates to discuss the issues that matter most to Jacksonville’s voters.”
Deegan, a Democrat, spent 24 years as an anchor for First Coast News at WTLV/WJXX-TV and founded The Donna Foundation in 2003. The nonprofit offers financial assistance to breast cancer patients.
It hosts the annual The DONNA Marathon and The DONNA 5K fundraisers.
Davis, a Republican, is a former two-term City Council member and former Florida House representative. He was named JAX Chamber president and CEO in 2013. He also is past executive director of the Northeast Florida Builders Association.