Longtime First Coast News journalist Ken Amaro will now represent Arlington as Jacksonville City Council District 1’s newest representative after Amaro won a outright majority of the votes Tuesday.
Amaro, a Republican, spent more than 40 years at First Coast News. For most of that time, he was the station’s consumer reporter, often uncovering scams on behalf of viewers who contacted the station.
He resigned a little over a year ago so that he could run for politics. Now Amaro, and his signature bow tie, and former TV anchor with News4Jax, is headed for City Hall after beating Democrat Alton McGriff, a Realtor.
Amaro flipped City Council District 1, a district covering most of Arlington that has been represented by fellow former TV journalist Joyce Morgan. Morgan, a Democrat, used to work as an anchor for rival station News4Jax. Morgan is running for property appraiser and made it to a May 16 runoff.
Amaro, 70, outran other Republicans in the Democratic-leaning districts, doing better than the GOP mayoral candidates and the At-Large City Council candidates.
“One of the great frustrations … is that too often the constituents feel City Hall is not listening, or it’s not responding,” Amaro earlier told the Tributary. “My experience of navigating neighborhoods, navigating City Hall, my experience of bridging differences and resolving conflicts, I think those are things that I can bring to the table.”
Read More: Jacksonville City Council District 1: Ken Amaro, Alton McGriff make case to voters
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This story was originally published by The Tributary