Despite new restrictions on voting adopted by the state legislature in 2021, more than 2.23 million Floridians took advantage of voting by mail or early voting in Tuesday’s primary election.
In the most closely watched race of the Aug. 23 primary, U.S. Rep. Charlie Crist defeated Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried for the Democratic nomination to challenge Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis in the general election.
U.S. Rep. Val Demings also won her Democratic primary to challenge incumbent GOP U.S. Senator Marco Rubio in November.
Former State Attorney Aramis Ayala won her Democratic primary to challenge incumbent Republican Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody in the general election.
Local school board races, which are nonpartisan and typically lower-key, attracted more attention and funding than usual, due in part to Gov. DeSantis’ campaigning. 25 of the 30 school board candidates he endorsed across Florida either won their primaries or advanced to the general election.
We’ll get analysis of results and what they set up for the general election and beyond with Florida Gulf Coast University political scientist Dr. Peter Bergerson.
