Collier County Commission candidate Gerald Lefebvre and a supporter of school board incument Jen Mitchell outside the North Collier Park polling place yesterday. (Photo: Author)
Aug. 24, 2022 by David Silverberg
Updated with additional information on Congressional District 17, official counts from Lee County and spelling correction.
The Sunshine State and its southwest corner are headed into what will definitely be epic battles for key offices in the Nov. 8 general election.
Incumbent Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) will face Rep. Charlie Crist (D-13-Fla.) for governor.
Incumbent Sen. Marco Rubio (R) will face Rep. Val Demings (D-10-Fla.) for United States Senator.
Incumbent Attorney General Ashley Moody (R) will face Aramis Ayala (D).
Republican Wilton Simpson will face Democrat Naomi Blemur for Agriculture Commissioner.
In the 19th Congressional District, incumbent Rep. Byron Donalds (R-19-Fla.) will be facing Democratic candidate Cindy Banyai.
In the new 26th Congressional District (formerly the 25th), incumbent Rep. Mario Diaz Balart (R) will face Democrat Christine Alexandria Olivo.
In the 17th Congressional District, incumbent Rep. Greg Steube (R-17-Fla.) will face Democrat Andrea Doria Kale. The Republican primary in the 17th District was canceled when Steube ran unopposed.
Collier County
Collier County had all its precincts reported and the full election count completed by 8:08 pm.
In the race for Collier County Commissioner District 2, Chris Hall won his race with 50 percent of the vote and will face Democrat Barbara “Bebe” Kanter.
Daniel Kowal won his race for Collier County Commissioner District 4 with 42 percent of the vote, defeating incumbent Penny Taylor.
In the non-partisan school board races for districts 1, 3 and 5, no candidate won 50 percent of the vote plus one, meaning that all districts will be decided in the general election among the top two vote getters.
In District 1, incumbent Jory Westberry will face Jerry Rutherford.
In District 3, incumbent Jenn Mitchell will face Kelly Lichter.
In District 5, incumbent Roy Terry will face Timothy Moshier.
In the non-partisan election for County Judge Group 3, Chris Brown defeated Pamela Barger by 52.7 percent to 47.3 percent.
Lee County
According to official results from the Lee County Supervisor of Elections, in State House District 77, Tiffany Esposito defeated Ford O’Connell by 70.68 percent to 29.32 percent.
For the Lee County School Board, only Armor Persons made it over the 50 percent mark in District 5, with 54.85 percent of the vote.
Otherwise, in District 1, Sam Fisher will face Kathy Fanny in the general election.
In District 4, incumbent Debbie Jordan will face Dan Severson.
In District 6, Jada Lanford Fleming will face Denise Nystrom.
Liberty lives in light
© 2022 by David Silverberg
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