Florida Primary Election Results

As ofAugust 23, 2022 – 10:30 pm

Prepared by: Metz, Husband & Daughton, P.A.

The 2022 campaign cycle is an active one, mostly due to the once in a decade reapportionment process which altered all of Florida’s Congressional and legislative districts. As a result, one U.S. Senate seat, all 27 congressional, 40 Florida Senate and 120 Florida House seats were subject to election.

Voter turnout is typically lower in midterm elections (when the U.S. President is not on the ballot). The trend continued with a turnout tonight of 25.48% compared to 27% in the 2018 primary. Vote by mail (VBM) grew during the pandemic and has continued to increase this cycle. In 2018, over 1.3 million Floridians (15.4%) voted by mail. For this cycle, over 1.52 million voters cast their ballots by mail.

While not on the ballot, Governor Ron DeSantis still had a meaningful effect on tonight’s results. Throughout the summer, the Governor bestowed his coveted endorsement in Republican primaries across the state. The Governor also endorsed and contributed to both incumbents and new candidates running for school board seats which are historically nonpartisan races. In the end, DeSantis’ seal of approval pushed his favored candidates over the top in tonight’s primary.

As of 10:00 p.m. most results were tallied, and winners were declared. However, a few House primaries were too close to call at this time. Below are highlights of the primary election results. You may access the latest results reported by the Florida Department of State here.

Florida U.S. Senate & Congressional Delegation

The 2020 United States Census resulted in the gain of one seat (for a total of 28) in Florida’s Congressional Delegation. All 28 seats are subject to election as well as one of the two U.S. Senate seats.

U.S. Senate

Republican Senator Marco Rubio did not draw a primary opponent and advances to the general election. Democratic Congresswoman Val Demings defeated three primary opponents to secure her place on the November ballot against Senator Rubio.

U.S House of Representatives

• District 7 – Following the announcement by Democratic Congresswoman Stephanie Murphy that she would not run for re-election, the Florida Legislature reconfigured this Orlando-based seat to make it more Republican. The eight-way Republican primary was won by Cory Mills, a defense contractor. He will now face Democrat businesswoman Karen Green and a write in candidate.

• District 13 – Republican veteran Anna Paulina Luna, who lost to Democrat Charlie Crist for this seat in 2020, won the tonight’s primary. She will face two write-in candidates and a Libertarian candidate in November.

• District 15 – This newly-created Republican performing seat near Tampa resulted in a five-way race in both the Republican and Democratic primaries. Former Secretary of State Laurel Lee handily beat her opponents, including former state Representative Jackie Toledo and former state Senator Kelli Stargel in tonight’s Republican primary. She will face journalist Alan Cohn, winner of the crowded Democratic primary in the general election.

Florida Governor & Cabinet

Governor Ron DeSantis, Attorney General Ashley Moody, and Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis did not have primary opponents.

However, the contest for the Democratic nominee for Governor was decided early this evening when U.S. Congressman Charlie Crist topped Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried by a comfortable margin. In the bid to replace Fried as Agriculture Commissioner, former Senate President Wilton Simpson (R-Tribly) easily won the Republican primary. The well-funded Simpson will face Democratic James Shaw in November.

Florida Senate

Eight were re-elected when they did not draw an opponent at the end of the qualifying period. Of the 12 Senate primary election contests, all but one candidate effectively won their Senate seat tonight, as they face only token opposition or no general election challenger in November.

The most hotly contested primaries were in the Democratic primaries which are outlined below:

• Senate District 5 | Current Democratic Representative Tracie Davis beat Jacksonville City Councilman Reggie Gaffney for this Northeast Florida seat. Davis will face a Republican and a write-in candidate in November for this historically Democratic seat.

• Senate District 15 | Two Orlando-based Democratic House members – Kamia Brown and Geraldine Thompson – faced off in the primary for this West Orange County seat. Thompson won the primary and since she does not have opposition in the general election, she is elected to the Senate.

• Senate District 35 | Senate Democratic leader Lauren Book fought off former Broward County Mayor Barbara Sharief. With this win, Sen. Book is re-elected since a Republican did not qualify for the race.

Florida House

A total 28 incumbents Representatives (and one new member) were elected in June when they did not draw an opponent during the candidate qualifying period. Further, 22 of tonight’s primary contest winners are effectively elected due to having only nominal or no opposition in the general election. Below were the most closely watched primary races:

• House District 3 | Prominent Republicans in this Northwest Florida district weighed in on both sides of the race between local physician Joel Rudman and Mariya Calkins, a former legislative aide and wife of Santa Rosa County Commissioner. Ultimately, Rudman won the primary and faces only a write-in candidate in the general election.

• House District 8 | A four-way Democratic primary ensued when House Democratic leader Ramon Alexander chose not to run for re-election. Gallup Franklin, a pharmacist, secured the nomination and will face a Republican in the general election for this strong Democratic seat.

• House District 16 | Three Republicans – former state Representative Lake Ray, Jacksonville Beach City Councilman Chet Stokes, and retired credit manager Kiyan Michael - sought to fill the seat vacated by Rep. Cord Byrd. Byrd was recently appointed Secretary of State by Gov. DeSantis. Newcomer Michael secured the Governor’s endorsement which boosted her win of the primary. She faces two write-in candidates in the November.

• House District 29 | The reapportionment of legislative districts resulted in two incumbents being drawn into the same seat. Republican Rep. Elizabeth Fetterhoff (Deland) and Rep. Webster Barnaby (Deltona) vied for the Volusia County seat. As of 10:00pm, Rep. Barnaby leads Fetterhoff by 31 votes. The winner of the primary will face Democrat Rick Karl in the general election.

• House District 35 | Republican Rep. Fred Hawkins faced two opponents in the primary for the seat spanning Orange and Osceola counties. With Gov. DeSantis’ endorsement, he secured the nomination and will face Navy veteran Tom Keen who won the three-way Democratic primary.

• House District 41 | Democratic Rep. Tavaris McCurdy lost narrowly to former Rep. Bruce Antone for this Orange County seat. Antone faces a Green party candidate in November.

• House District 44 | Democratic Rep. Daisy Morales lost her bid for re-election to this Orange County seat to advocate Rita Harris. Since a major party candidate did not qualify to run, Harris is effectively elected to the House.

• House District 45 | Significant funds were raised and spent in the five-way Republican primary for this Central Florida seat. Carolina Amesty, a Christian University vice president defeated four opponents in the primary. She will now face Democrat credit union employee Allie Braswell in the general election.

• House District 58 | The Republican primary race between former Representative Kim Berfield and consultant and former legislative aide Jason Holloway garnered competing endorsements from area elected Republicans. Berfield was victorious and meets Bernie Fensterwald in November.

• House District 93 | The heated race to replace Wellington Democrat Rep. Matt Willhite saw competing candidates in a four-way primary. Rep. Willhite and several legislators endorsed his aide, Tom Valeo while others supported Port of Palm Beach Commissioner Katherine Waldron. When the votes were tallied, Waldron won the primary and will now face Republican Saulis Banjonis in the general election.

• House District 101 | The three-way Democratic primary cast former Broward assistant state attorney Hillary Cassel against Clay Miller, legislative director for a Broward County Commissioner, and LGBTQ advocate Todd Delmay. Ultimately, Cassel won the primary and faces Republican Guy Sila in November.

• House District 109 | Miami Democratic Rep. James Bush drew a primary opponent after he supported several Republican-sponsored bills during the 2022 Legislative Session. As a result, attorney Ashley Gantt won the endorsement of several Democratic House and Senate members. As of 10:30 p.m., Rep. Bush is down by 445 votes.

• House District 120 – Republican Rep. Jim Mooney is holding his Key West House seat late this evening. As of 10:30pm, Rep. Mooney was ahead by 90 votes. The winner of the primary will face Democrat Dan Horton-Diaz.

Metz, Husband & Daughton, P.A.

A full service law firm, representing and advising clients in the areas of Legislative and Governmental Affairs, Federal and State Litigation, Administrative Law, Public Contracting, General Business and Corporate Law and Affordable Housing Development.

______________________________________________________

119 South Monroe Street – Suite 200 – Tallahassee, Florida 32301

Office: (850) 205-9000Fax: (850) 205-9001www.MHDFirm.com