Harvey Ward (politician)
{{Short description|American politician}}
{{Notability|1=Biographies|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| image = Harvey Ward Portrait 2023.jpg
| name = Harvey Ward
| caption =
| birth_date = {{Birth based on age as of date|55|2022|11|22}}https://voterrecords.com/voter/8862183/harvey-ward
| birth_place = Gainesville, Florida, U.S.
| residence = Gainesville, Florida
| office = Mayor of Gainesville
| term_start = January 5, 2023
| term_end =
| predecessor = Lauren Poe
| successor =
| office2 = City Commissioner from
Gainesville District 2
| term_start2 = 2017
| term_end2 = 2023
| predecessor2 = Todd Chasehttps://www.votealachua.com/Portals/Alachua/Documents/Election_Results/20140311_Gainesville_Summary.pdf
| successor2 = Ed Book
| party = Democratic Party
| spouse = Gillian Lord
| children = 3
}}
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.{{Cite web |last=Hyson |first=Katie |title=Harvey Ward wins Gainesville's 2024 election for mayor |url=https://www.wuft.org/news/2022/11/08/who-won-gainesville-mayor-2022/ |access-date=2022-11-22 |website=WUFT News |date=9 November 2022 |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |title=Summary Results - Election Night Reporting |url=https://enr.electionsfl.org/ALA/2616/Summary/ |access-date=2022-11-22 |website=enr.electionsfl.org}}{{Cite web |title=Summary Results - Election Night Reporting |url=https://enr.electionsfl.org/ALA/1699/Summary/ |access-date=2022-11-22 |website=enr.electionsfl.org}}
Early life and education
Ward attended Eastside High School and graduated in 1985.{{citation needed|date=July 2024}} 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.{{Cite web |last=Ward |first=Harvey |date=February 2020 |title=Candidate for Election: City of Gainesville Commissioner |url=https://gainesvillechamber.com/wp-content/uploads/Harvey-Ward.pdf |access-date=July 4, 2024}} Ward is married to Gillian Lord, the Associate Dean of the University of Florida's College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.{{Cite web |title=Gillian Lord {{!}} Department of Spanish and Portuguese Studies |url=https://people.clas.ufl.edu/glord/ |access-date=2022-11-22 |website=people.clas.ufl.edu}}{{Cite web |title=Harvey Ward |url=https://www.gainesvillefl.gov/City-Commission/Commissioner-Harvey-Ward |access-date=2022-11-22 |website=www.gainesvillefl.gov |language=en-US}} 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.
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{{Cite web |title=Harvey Lagrande Ward from Gainesville, Florida {{!}} VoterRecords.com |url=https://voterrecords.com/voter/8862183/harvey-ward |access-date=2022-11-22 |website=voterrecords.com}}.{{Election box begin no change|title=2022 Gainesville mayoral general election}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change|party=Nonpartisan politician|candidate=Harvey Ward|votes=20,415|percentage=57.60%}}{{Election box candidate with party link no change|party=Nonpartisan politician|candidate=Ed Bielarski|votes=15,026|percentage=42.40%}}
{{Election box total no change|votes=35,441|percentage=100.00}}
{{Election box end}}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.{{Cite web |title=Summary Results - Election Night Reporting |url=https://enr.electionsfl.org/ALA/3293/Summary/ |access-date=2022-11-22 |website=enr.electionsfl.org}}{{Election box begin no change|title=2022 Gainesville mayoral primary election{{cite web | url=https://enr.electionsfl.org/ALA/3197/Summary/ | title=Summary Results - Election Night Reporting }}}}
{{Election box winning candidate with party link no change|party=Nonpartisan politician|candidate=Harvey Ward|votes=5,889|percentage=27.9}}
{{Election box winning candidate with party link no change|party=Nonpartisan politician|candidate=Ed Bielarski|votes=5,570|percentage=26.4}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change|party=Nonpartisan politician|candidate=David Arreola|votes=3,242|percentage=15.4}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change|party=Nonpartisan politician|candidate=Gary Gordon|votes=3,044|percentage=14.4}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change|party=Nonpartisan politician|candidate=July Thomas|votes=2,119|percentage=10.1}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change|party=Nonpartisan politician|candidate=Ansaun Fisher|votes=449|percentage=2.1}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change|party=Nonpartisan politician|candidate=Gabriel Hillel|votes=273|percentage=1.3}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change|party=Nonpartisan politician|candidate=Donald Shepherd|votes=252|percentage=1.2}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change|party=Nonpartisan politician|candidate=Adam Rosenthal|votes=236|percentage=1.1}}
{{Election box total no change|votes=21,074|percentage=100.00}}
{{Election box end}}Ward and Bielarski advance to a runoff election, defeating 7 other candidates.{{Cite web |title=Summary Results - Election Night Reporting |url=https://enr.electionsfl.org/ALA/3197/Summary/ |access-date=2022-11-22 |website=enr.electionsfl.org}}{{Election box begin no change|title=2020 Gainesville City Commission District 2}}
{{Election box winning candidate with party link no change|party=Nonpartisan politician|candidate=Harvey Ward|votes=4,983|percentage=67.89%}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change|party=Nonpartisan politician|candidate=David Walle|votes=2,357|percentage=32.11%}}
{{Election box total no change|votes=7,340|percentage=100.00}}
{{Election box end}}Ward defeated Walle in the two-way primary race, winning reelection in district 2.https://www.votealachua.com/Portals/Alachua/Documents/Election_Results/20170314_Gainesville_Summary.pdf{{Election box begin no change|title=2017 Gainesville City Commission District 2}}
{{Election box winning candidate with party link no change|party=Nonpartisan politician|candidate=Harvey Ward|votes=2,261|percentage=50.74%}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change|party=Nonpartisan politician|candidate=Perry Clawson|votes=1,183|percentage=26.55%}}{{Election box candidate with party link no change|party=Nonpartisan politician|candidate=Sheryl Eddie|votes=1,012|percentage=22.71%}}
{{Election box total no change|votes=4,456|percentage=100.00}}
{{Election box end}}
Ward secured a narrow majority in his first city commission election, avoiding a runoff.https://www.votealachua.com/Portals/Alachua/Documents/Election_Results/20170314_Gainesville_Summary.pdf
{{Election box begin no change|title=2014 Alachua County Commission District 2 Democratic primary}}
{{Election box winning candidate with party link no change|party=Democratic Party (United States)|candidate=Lee Pinkoson|votes=9,930|percentage=58.81%}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change|party=Democratic Party (United States)|candidate=Harvey Ward|votes=6,955|percentage=41.19%}}
{{Election box total no change|votes=16,885|percentage=100.00}}
{{Election box end}}
Ward's first election took place in 2014, where he lost to incumbent county commissioner Lee Pinkoson in the Democratic primary.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ward, Harvey}}