Primary Election Day in Florida was Tuesday; here’s a rundown of some of the important results in the Tampa Bay area — and some of it is bad news for Governor Ron DeSantis.
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Hillsborough State Attorney
Former Hillsborough State attorney Andrew Warren will have another chance to reclaim his job. He defeated Elizabeth Martinez Strauss in the primary and will face off against Suzy Lopez in the general election.
Hillsborough Public Defender
In the race for Public Defender in Hillsborough, Lisa McLean leads Rocky Brancato 52 to 48 percent.
Florida’s 13th Congressional District
There were several Congressional primaries. In Pinellas, Whitney Fox beat out four other Democrats in the primary and will face a write-in and Republican Congress member Anna Paulina Luna in November in Florida’s 13th District.
Florida’s 14th Congressional District
Democrat Kathy Castor represents Florida’s 14th Congressional District. She did not have a primary and will face three opponents in November’s General Election: Libertarian Nathanial Snyder, Christopher Bradley, who is not affiliated with a party, and the winner of yesterday’s Republican primary, Rocky Rochford.
Rochford spoke at the Tampa Tiger Bay Club last week in a forum with other candidates and he opposed gun safety laws. “Let’s help solve mental illness in our country, and stop going after guns because they are only the tool,” Rochford told attendees.
Rochford was also asked whether there was fraud during the 2020 election. “I don’t have access to the kind of information that’s out there to be able to tell me whether or not we’re in a… if there was fraud or not,” he said.
A 2021 Associated Press review found “far too little vote fraud” to tip the 2020 election to former president Donald Trump.
Hillsborough County School Board
School board candidates endorsed by Governor Ron DeSantis did not fare well in the Tampa Bay area.
Both of the governor’s picks lost to incumbents in Hillsborough County: Nadia Combs and Jessica Vaughn won reelection.
Incumbent Henry “Shake” Washington also won his race but incumbent Lynn Gray will go to a runoff in November against Karen Bendorf.
Pinellas County School Board
In Pinellas County School Board races, incumbents Laura Hine and Eileen Long beat DeSantis’ endorsed candidates. But Stacy Geier, one of the governor’s picks, will head to a run-off against Katie Blaxberg.
Sarasota County School Board
In Sarasota County, a candidate endorsed by DeSantis lost a school board race. School Board chair Karen Rose lost to Liz Barker.
School Board member Tom Edwards also won. The Sarasota Herald-Tribune reports, these results suggest a public rejection of the direction of the board’s conservative majority. Edwards was targeted by DeSantis as one of 14 Florida school board members the governor wanted out of office. He had been the target of homophobic attacks as a school board member.
Manatee County Commission
Results in Manatee County also showed a pushback against the far right. Florida Politics reports that every county commission race went against the board’s current conservative majority. In a countywide Republican primary for county commission, George Kruse defeated Kevin Van Ostenbridge.
Manatee Supervisor of Elections
The DeSantis-appointed Manatee County Supervisor of Elections was defeated: James Satcher lost to Scott Farrington. Florida Politics reports that two other DeSantis appointees lost in Manatee County.
