Donna Deegan

Deegan was born Donna Elizabeth Hazouri on February 28, 1961. She has Lebanese ancestry through her father. Deegan's great-great-grandfather immigrated from Lebanon circa 1905. Deegan was raised on the south side of Jacksonville and graduated from Bishop Kenny High School in 1979.

She attended Florida State University and graduated in 1984 with a bachelor's degree in communications. She is the cousin of former Jacksonville mayor Tommy Hazouri, who served from 1987 to 1991.

Deegan started her career in 1984 as the morning anchor for WTXL-TV in Tallahassee. In 1985, she became the West Palm Bureau Chief for WTVX in Fort Pierce. She then became the morning and noon anchor for WPEC in West Palm Beach, where she remained until August 1988. She then took the opportunity to return to her native Jacksonville and became the anchor of the weekend broadcasts on WTLV. In 1993, she became anchor of the 5:30 and 11 p.m. newscasts on WTLV.

Deegan has received many awards during her career, including the Jacksonville Business Journal Women of Influence Award in 2004 and the Enterprising Women's Leadership Award in 2005. On October 25, 2007, she was honored by Community Connections of Jacksonville at the Omni Hotel. She was the 2007 recipient of the Florence N. Davis Award for Lifetime Achievement.

Breast cancer advocacy

Deegan is a three-time survivor of breast cancer. She was first diagnosed in 1999, with recurrences in 2002 and 2007. She is the founder of The Donna Foundation, which provides the necessary funds to care for local women living with breast cancer. Her book, The Good Fight, chronicles her second bout with breast cancer and the online journal that she kept during that time.

On September 19, 2007, Deegan stated that a CT scan showed a small "suspicious" lesion in her lower left lung. A PET scan confirmed the lesion was there, but nothing more was found anywhere in her body. Initially, doctors were uncertain if the lesion was indeed cancer. However, on September 21, 2007, after surgery to remove the lesion, it was confirmed that it was; she yet again underwent treatment for cancer, including chemotherapy.

Relationship with the city council

In October 2024, Deegan took a trip to Europe, first visiting London for the UK government's International Investment Summit with the intention of bringing jobs to Jacksonville. She then visited Italy for a vacation. Council member Terrance Freeman, a Republican asked for an audit of Deegan's trip spending, suspecting she used taxpayer money for her vacation. However, investigations found that the only taxpayer money spent during this trip was for Deegan’s hotel in London which cost $2,978.18. The rest of the expenditures, including flights and meals, were paid for by Deegan.

Other members of the Jacksonville city council have called out Deegan for her policy. Council member Kevin Carrico said that Deegan’s office was not putting in enough effort into the negotiations for resurrecting the Laura Street Trio of historic buildings. In response Deegan released a statement explaining that the city developers have been meeting regularly with the building’s developers.

Deegan is a member of St. Paul's Catholic Church in Jacksonville Beach. Her maiden name is Hazouri and her first marriage was to Kevin Clewis in Tallahassee in 1983 (later divorced). She has two children from her second marriage to Action News Jax sports director, Dan Hicken. She later married First Coast News chief meteorologist Tim Deegan on August 9, 2002.

Political positions

Deegan has held a pro-choice stance. When Florida legislation was passed mandating abortions be within the first 6 weeks of pregnancy, Deegan criticized the role of government in what she viewed as having excessive say in women's private medical decisions.

In the 2024 election, Deegan showed her support for incumbent president Joe Biden. After Biden dropped out, Deegan switched her support to the Harris Campaign. She has stated that the Harris administration and her administration have similar goals and stances on issues. Deegan was an early voter in the election, placing her support behind Harris.

In the 2026 United States Senate special election in Florida, Deegan declined to support Democratic nominee Angie Nixon, a Florida state representative from Jacksonville.