Harvey Ward
Mayor of Gainesville
Assumed office
January 5, 2023
Preceded byLauren Poe
City Commissioner from
Gainesville District 2
In office
2017–2023
Preceded byTodd Chase[1]
Succeeded byEd Book
Personal details
Born1966 or 1967 (age 56–57)[2]
Gainesville, Florida, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
SpouseGillian Lord
Children3
Residence(s)Gainesville, Florida

Harvey Ward (born 1967) is an American politician and the mayor of Gainesville, Florida. Ward has lived in Gainesville his whole life and occupied the position of city commissioner from 2017 to 2023.[3][4][5]

Early life and education

Ward attended Eastside High School and graduated in 1985. He then enrolled at Santa Fe College in Gainesville, and eventually graduated from the University of Florida with a bachelor's degree in public relations.[6] Ward is married to Gillian Lord, the Associate Dean of the University of Florida's College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.[7][8] Together, they have three daughters. Ward previously served as the Executive Director of the Holy Trinity Episcopal Foundation, and in several positions at WUFT-TV/FM. Ward has served on the Gainesville City Commission since 2017.[6]

Electoral history

Harvey Ward was elected to district 2 of the Gainesville City Commission in 2017, narrowly avoiding a run-off. He was re-elected in 2020 with more than two-thirds of the vote. Term-limits prevented Ward from running for a third term. He ran to be mayor of Gainesville and was elected by more than 5,000 votes. Despite being elected in a nonpartisan election, Ward is a registered Democrat[9].

2022 Gainesville mayoral general election
Party Candidate Votes %
Nonpartisan Harvey Ward 20,415 57.60%
Nonpartisan Ed Bielarski 15,026 42.40%
Total votes 35,441 100.00

Ward defeated Bielarski in the mayoral runoff, and will be the mayor of Gainesville from 2022 to 2025. He will go on to replace incumbent mayor Lauren Poe.[10]

2022 Gainesville mayoral primary election[11]
Party Candidate Votes %
Nonpartisan Harvey Ward 5,889 27.9
Nonpartisan Ed Bielarski 5,570 26.4
Nonpartisan David Arreola 3,242 15.4
Nonpartisan Gary Gordon 3,044 14.4
Nonpartisan July Thomas 2,119 10.1
Nonpartisan Ansaun Fisher 449 2.1
Nonpartisan Gabriel Hillel 273 1.3
Nonpartisan Donald Shepherd 252 1.2
Nonpartisan Adam Rosenthal 236 1.1
Total votes 21,074 100.00

Ward and Bielarski advance to a runoff election, defeating 7 other candidates.[12]

2020 Gainesville City Commission District 2
Party Candidate Votes %
Nonpartisan Harvey Ward 4,983 67.89%
Nonpartisan David Walle 2,357 32.11%
Total votes 7,340 100.00

Ward defeated Walle in the two-way primary race, winning reelection in district 2.[13]

2017 Gainesville City Commission District 2
Party Candidate Votes %
Nonpartisan Harvey Ward 2,261 50.74%
Nonpartisan Perry Clawson 1,183 26.55%
Nonpartisan Sheryl Eddie 1,012 22.71%
Total votes 4,456 100.00

Ward secured a narrow majority in his first city commission election, avoiding a runoff.[14]

2014 Alachua County Commission District 2 Democratic primary
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Lee Pinkoson 9,930 58.81%
Democratic Harvey Ward 6,955 41.19%
Total votes 16,885 100.00

Ward's first election took place in 2014, where he lost to incumbent county commissioner Lee Pinkoson in the Democratic primary.

References

  1. ↑ https://www.votealachua.com/Portals/Alachua/Documents/Election_Results/20140311_Gainesville_Summary.pdf
  2. ↑ https://voterrecords.com/voter/8862183/harvey-ward
  3. ↑ Hyson, Katie. "Harvey Ward wins Gainesville's 2022 election for mayor". WUFT News. Retrieved 2022-11-22.
  4. ↑ "Summary Results - Election Night Reporting". enr.electionsfl.org. Retrieved 2022-11-22.
  5. ↑ "Summary Results - Election Night Reporting". enr.electionsfl.org. Retrieved 2022-11-22.
  6. 1 2 https://gainesvillechamber.com/wp-content/uploads/Harvey-Ward.pdf
  7. ↑ "Gillian Lord | Department of Spanish and Portuguese Studies". people.clas.ufl.edu. Retrieved 2022-11-22.
  8. ↑ "Harvey Ward". www.gainesvillefl.gov. Retrieved 2022-11-22.
  9. ↑ "Harvey Lagrande Ward from Gainesville, Florida | VoterRecords.com". voterrecords.com. Retrieved 2022-11-22.
  10. ↑ "Summary Results - Election Night Reporting". enr.electionsfl.org. Retrieved 2022-11-22.
  11. ↑ "Summary Results - Election Night Reporting".
  12. ↑ "Summary Results - Election Night Reporting". enr.electionsfl.org. Retrieved 2022-11-22.
  13. ↑ https://www.votealachua.com/Portals/Alachua/Documents/Election_Results/20170314_Gainesville_Summary.pdf
  14. ↑ https://www.votealachua.com/Portals/Alachua/Documents/Election_Results/20170314_Gainesville_Summary.pdf
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