Credit: City of New Port Richey

New Port Richey voters re-elected incumbent Mayor Alfred “Chopper” Davis Tuesday night.

Davis won 43% of the vote, according to the Pasco County Supervisor of Elections. The incumbent earned 640 votes in a four-way nonpartisan race that included Marlowe Jones, Daisy Thomas, and Kelly Mothershead Timmons.

Jones, a New Port Richey native and community organizer, came in second place with 336 votes. Thomas received 292 votes, while Timmons placed fourth with 222 votes.

Campaign finance reports show Jones had the smallest campaign war chest of all four candidates, raising $3,931 while capturing 22% of votes. Davis raised $10,765, the highest total among all four candidates.

“I’m running for city council next year and this is not the end,” Jones told supporters Tuesday night. “There’s a lot to be proud of. We came in second place against a 13-year-incumbent.”

Jones would have been New Port Richey’s first Black mayor, and a Mamdani-like victory for the small town. A member of the Pasco Hernando chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, he would have also been the city’s first socialist mayor in 100 years, per the organization.

Jones entered the race after years of conflict with city hall, including a 2020 arrest during Black Lives Matter protests that ended in his acquittal and a later lawsuit against the city. His campaign focused on development and what he described as a lack of transparency in local government, pointing to the city’s controversial switch to a single-hauler trash collection in 2024.

In contrast, Davis, who has defended the city’s approach to issues like trash collection and development, campaigned on continuity, arguing the city is moving in the right direction.

Davis’s most recent win continues a pattern of consistent but often narrow victories in New Port Richey elections. In 2023, Davis won the mayor’s race with 602 votes, just a 13-vote margin against Kate Connolly. His first election to City Council in 2013 was also decided by a razor-thin margin.

Turnout increased this year compared to the last mayoral race. In 2023, 1,247 residents voted for mayor. This year, 1,490 residents voted, representing an almost 20% increase in voter turnout.

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