Results are in for Florida’s 2018 primary election. Live updates on races for governor, Congress, city commission, judges and school board for Miami-Dade and Broward counties.
Republican gubernatorial candidate and Palm Coast Congressman Ron DeSantis, riding a wave from President Donald Trump’s endorsement, jumped to an early lead in Miami-Dade during Tuesday’s primary election while Democratic candidate for governor and Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum held a slight lead over his closest opponent, former Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine, as 651 of 783 precincts, or 83 percent, reported results.
In the Republican gubernatorial primary, DeSantis jumped to a big lead over his closest competitor. DeSantis recorded 62,072 or 68 percent of the votes — compared to Florida’s Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam, who had 16,336 votes or nearly 18 percent in his favor.
In the Democratic gubernatorial primary in Miami-Dade, Levine and Gillum were neck and neck. Gillum led with 49,859 or 37 percent of the vote over Levine, who had 45,441 or 33.6 percent of the vote. Former congresswoman Gwen Graham had 22,608 or nearly 17 percent of the vote.
Statewide results began to be posted at 8 p.m. and showed a tight race between Gillum and Graham. With 2.3 million votes counted statewide, Graham had 33.4 percent of the vote compared to 31.7 percent for Gillum — with Broward County’s votes still a big question mark.
For the Republican gubernatorial race, early statewide results showed DeSantis holding on to a comfortable lead. He had 56.8 percent of the vote compared to 36.3 for Putnam, his closest competitor.
In Miami-Dade’s Republican primary for U. S. Senator, Gov. Rick Scott held a sizable lead over his competitor, Roque “Rocky” De La Fuente. Scott had 84,495 or nearly 88 percent of the vote compared to 11,631 or 12 percent for De La Fuente.
In the race to replace outgoing Republican Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen to represent District 27 in the U. S. House of Representatives, former University of Miami President Donna Shalala held a comfortable lead over her Democratic opponents with 13,371 or nearly 32 percent of the vote — more than four percentage points over her closest competitor, Florida Rep. David Richardson, who had 11,532 or 27 percent of the votes.
In the Republican primary for District 27, former Univision anchor Maria Elvira Salazar held a sizable lead with 15,319 or 41 percent of the vote. Former Miami-Dade Commissioner Bruno A. Barreiro had 9,567 or 25 percent of the vote.
U. S. Rep. Carlos Curbelo held off challenger Souraya Faas in the Republican race to be on the ballot for District 26. Curbelo had 22,027 or 84 percent of the vote compared to 4,169 or nearly 16 percent for Faas.
In races for state office, former Miami Beach Commissioner Michael Grieco was leading his Democratic opponents with 3,281 or 41 percent of the vote compared to former Miami Beach Commissioner Deede Weithorn, who had 2,793 or 35 percent of the vote, and newcomer Kubs Lalchandani, who had 1,869 or 23 percent of ballots case with 82 percent of precincts reporting.
Polls in South Florida closed at 7 p.m., capping the last 12 hours of voting as Republicans and Democrats turned out in significant numbers — with more voters casting early and absentee ballots during these primaries than in the 2016 general election.
In Miami-Dade, voter turnout was much higher than the last time the county had an August primary outside of a presidential election. In 2014, turnout barely passed 14 percent in Florida’s most populous county. But as polls neared their 7 p.m. closing, Miami-Dade Elections authorities reported a turnout rate hovering around 20 percent.
About 102,000 in Miami-Dade had turned out on Election Day Tuesday, according to the latest count. A majority of the votes had already been cast by the time polls opened that morning, with nearly two-thirds of the ballots either cast during the two-week period of early voting or through mail-in ballots.
In all, more than 280,000 people had voted in the Miami-Dade election, but that figure is sure to grow by the time the final tally is posted.
While some candidates will be elected outright, most of the politicians on the ballot Tuesday are trying to survive primary races in order to continue campaigning for November’s general election. The headliner on both sides is the race for governor.
Democrats are choosing among Gillum, Gwen Graham, Jeff Greene, Chris King and Levine. Republicans are choosing between DeSantis and Putnam.
DeSantis, who has been significantly outspent by Putnam, has relied heavily on an endorsement from President Donald Trump and a steady rotation of FOX News interviews in staking a lead in the race. A RealClearPolitics average of polls has DeSantis up nearly 7 points on Putnam heading into election day.
On the Democratic side, the same RealClearPolitics formula shows Graham, a former congresswoman who began the day with an event at Versailles Cuban Bakery in Little Havana, up about 7 points on the field. But recent polling not considered by the site has shown a tighter race, with Levine and perhaps Gillum in striking distance.
King has steadily polled in single digits, and self-funding billionaire Greene all but signaled retreat when he pulled most of his commercials and then announced Monday that he was canceling his election night party and instead watching returns at home with his wife and children.
While the outcome of the top-of-ticket races is still unknown, this much is certain: Florida voters are turning out for the primary.
More voters cast early and absentee ballots in these primaries than in the 2016 general election — a presidential year where voters are typically far more engaged than in midterm elections such as this one.
Democrats are largely responsible for that surge, although independent voters casting ballots in local elections and open primaries have also turned out at a high clip. Slightly more than 300,000 votes have been cast in Miami-Dade and in Broward County, where early voting turnout was the highest in the state.
