Florida primary results: Governor’s race, Miami-Dade School Board and more
The ballots have been scanned, the “I Voted” stickers have been ripped off of our shirts, and the attention has shifted to November. These are some of the takeaways from Florida’s primary election:
U.S. Rep. Charlie Crist defeated Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried in the state’s Democratic primary race for governor Tuesday.
- Crist, who served as Florida’s governor from 2007 to 2011 as a Republican before switching parties in 2012, will face Gov. Ron DeSantis in the November election.
What they’re saying: At a victory party, Crist called the November election the “most consequential” in Florida history.
- Crist also said that if elected governor again, he’ll sign an executive order protecting abortion rights on his first day in office, and vowed to make Election Day a statewide holiday.
“It’s not going to be easy, but this state is worth fighting for,” DeSantis said at a rally Tuesday night. “Our country is worth fighting for. So put on the full armor of God and take a stand against the left’s schemes.”
What else: Voters chose U.S. Rep. Val Demings, Orlando’s former police chief, to challenge U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio for his seat.
- Democrat Aramis Ayala won the primary for attorney general and will face incumbent Republican Ashley Moody in November. Ayala, a former state attorney, defeated attorneys Jim Lewis and Daniel Uhlfelder.
Local election results
In Miami’s 27th congressional district, state Sen. Annette Taddeo won the Democratic primary and will face U.S. Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar in November.
- Taddeo beat TikTok viral Miami Commissioner Ken Russell.
- “Miamians need a true public servant representing our community in Congress and I’m ready to be that leader!” Taddeo wrote on Twitter.
DeSantis scored a victory Tuesday when two candidates he endorsed for Miami-Dade School Board won their elections.
- Roberto Alonso, a DeSantis appointee on the Miami-Dade College Board of Trustees, won an open District 4 race.
- District 8 candidate Monica Colucci, whom DeSantis also endorsed, defeated incumbent Marta Perez.
Between the lines: Alonso and Colucci support the governor’s education agenda, including efforts to restrict instruction on gender identity and race-related issues in Florida.
- At a GOP victory party in Hialeah, DeSantis praised the school board wins, saying “Florida is the state where woke goes to die,” per Miami Herald reporter Omar Rodríguez Ortiz.
Of note: Other winners include incumbent school board members Maria Teresa Rojas and Dorothy Bendross-Mindingall.
Meanwhile: Two new Miami-Dade commissioners were elected after term-limit rules barred five incumbents from seeking re-election.
- Commissioner Danielle Cohen Higgins won re-election in the District 8 race, and Florida Rep. Anthony Rodriguez won in District 10.
- Doral Mayor Juan Carlos “J.C.” Bermudez, who was endorsed by former President Trump, won his District 12 race.
Runoff elections will be held Nov. 8 for District 2 and District 6 because none of the candidates received a majority of the vote.
- Former Trump campaign official Kevin Cabrera is up against Coral Gables Commissioner Jorge Fors in District 6.
- District 2’s runoff will be between North Miami Mayor Philippe Bien-Aime and activist Marleine Bastien.
Of note: Former Miami Beach Commissioner Micky Steinberg won her District 4 race in June when no one filed to run against her.
City elections: Miami Gardens voters kept three incumbent council members in office and Key Biscayne brought back its former mayor.
- Voters in Miami and Miami Beach approved referendums allowing real estate projects to move forward on
- public land.
