Shayla E. Lee won a runoff election for a vacant Duval County judge seat. 

Lee is a public defender who has spent almost all of her legal career in public service, including stints at the Guardian ad Litem Office and the Department of Children and Families. She has worked in Jacksonville as an attorney since she passed the bar in 2015. 

Lee, a criminal defense lawyer, is only the second Black woman to be elected as a Duval County judge after Rhonda Peoples-Waters’ 2020 election. Other Black women have been appointed to the position by governors. 

Lufrano is a criminal defense lawyer who has worked in private practice for more than 10 years. He opened Jacksonville law firm Lufrano Legal P.A. in 2014 after five years with the Public Defender’s Office. 

County judges hear small-claims lawsuits and misdemeanors, which can carry sentences as long as a year in jail. They are also responsible for setting defendants’ bail, if any, after their arrests.

As of 9 p.m., Lee won around 57% of the vote.

Bea Lunardini was an Investigative Reporting Fellow at The Tributary. She has previously covered crime and courts in Georgia, Texas and Florida. She is a senior journalism student at the University of Florida. In her free time, she reads voraciously and enjoys baking.