Republican Donovan Bradley defeated Democrat Donna Westrich in the Duval County School Board race for District 2, solidifying the continued conservative leaning of the seat. He will succeed Moms for Liberty-backed and conservative Vice Chair April Carney after serving just one term on the board.

With 53% of the vote, Bradley won the seat.

Bradley, a Jacksonville native and graduate of Duval County Public Schools who seeks to increase school safety, expand school choice “options” for students, expanding career readiness paths and keeping teachers in the district. 

Headshot of Donovan Bradley
Donovan Bradley is the next Duval County school board member of District 6.

Bradley raised significantly more campaign contributions than Westrich, totaling to over $100,000, with endorsements from current, conservative board members April Carney, Melody Bolduc and Reginald Blount, City Council member Rory Diamond and the Fraternal Order of Police of Jacksonville.

Duval County Public Schools as a whole is grappling with major challenges this school year, namely the largest drop in enrollment in the history of the district. With less students in the district, the school board has had to make tough decisions concerning school closures and consolidations. 

While Atlantic Beach Elementary evaded closure in 2024, Anchor Academy is still slated to close and consolidate into Mayport Elementary by the end of this school year as enrollment dwindles. 

Bradley has called for transparency between community members and the district within the school closure and consolidation process. The new make up of the board will have to comprehensively agree about how to best proceed with closing public schools across the Duval County. 

Trinity Webster-Bass covers education for The Florida Trib. A recent Howard University graduate, she served as president of the Ida B. Wells Society for Investigative Reporting, reported for The Hilltop, and covered the 2024 Democratic National Convention and local politics for Howard University News Service.

She began her career interning at WJCT 89.9 FM in Jacksonville before joining The Washington Post as an audio intern, where she produced an investigative story on police use of AI. Most recently, Trinity interned at The New York Times through the Ida B. Wells Society, reporting on cannabis legislation and pitfalls in the organ donation process.

She received awards from the White House Correspondents' Association, the Society of Professional Journalists, and the National Association of Black Journalists for her work.

You can reach Trinity at trinity.webster-bass@floridatrib.org