Florida election 2022 live updates: T.K. Waters to become Jacksonville's next sheriff
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It's Election Day in Florida. Voters across the sunshine state are headed to the polls to cast ballots in local, statewide and federal races in the 2022 midterm elections.
In the Florida governor's race, Gov. Ron DeSantis faces off against Democratic challenger and former governor Charlie Crist. In a key U.S. Senate race, incumbent Sen. Marco Rubio is being challenged by Democrat Val Demings.
Various local races in Duval and St. Johns counties are also on the ballot. Learn more about them here.
TRACK LOCAL ELECTIONS: Results from Duval, Clay, St. Johns counties
Voter guide: Everything you need to know about Nov. 8 election in Duval, St. Johns counties
Sheriff's race: Poll: Waters ahead of Burton in Jacksonville sheriff race, election for mayor 'still anyone's race'
Gubernatorial debate recap: Crist, DeSantis spar over COVID, abortion, trans rights
9:15 p.m. | T.K. Waters beats Lakesha Burton to become Jacksonville sheriff
T.K. Waters clinched the position of Jacksonville’s next sheriff Tuesday, outpolling fellow Sheriff’s Office veteran Lakesha Burton for a job that must be won again in the spring.
Waters, a Republican and the retired chief of investigations for the Sheriff's Office, built a lead with a campaign that touted support from neighboring sheriffs as well as police and firefighter unions while deriding Burton as “too radical for Jacksonville.”
Full story: T.K. Waters outpolls Lakesha Burton in race spotlighting violent crime
8:35 p.m. | Republican Aaron Bean to represent Jacksonville in Congress
State Sen. Aaron Bean has gone from the Fernandina Beach City Commission to the state Legislature in a steady-climbing political career whose next stop will be Washington D.C. representing a newly drawn Northeast Florida district in Congress.
Bean, R-Fernandina Beach, defeated Democratic nominees LaShonda "L.J." Holloway of Jacksonville for a seat the Gov. Ron DeSantis and the state Legislature drew to lean in favor of Republican candidates.
Full story: Aaron Bean defeats LaShonda Holloway in newly drawn congressional seat
8:30 p.m. | Ron DeSantis, Marco Rubio win re-election
Republican Sen. Marco Rubio will easily defeat Democratic Congresswoman Val Demings in the U.S. Senate race to win his third six-year term, according to projection by major TV networks.
Meanwhile, in the Florida governor's race, Gov. Ron DeSantis easily won reelection in a dominating performance that cemented his status as one of the GOP’s leading figures, boosted his stock as a potential presidential contender and erased the common conception of Florida as the nation’s largest swing state.
Senate race in Florida: Marco Rubio projected to easily beat Val Demings to win re-election
Florida governor race:: Ron DeSantis wins in a landslide over Democrat Charlie Crist
8 p.m. | Reggie Gaffney Jr. wins his father's City Council seat
Reggie Gaffney Jr. won almost 70% of the vote Tuesday night with all but one precinct reporting, making him the newest Jacksonville District 7 representative and the third Gaffney to hold the seat.
Gaffney, a Democrat, won against Charles Barr, the only Republican to run in the special election.
Full story: Reggie Gaffney Jr. wins race for Jacksonville City Council District 7
7:10 p.m.| Polls close across Florida
Polls close in Duval County with lower voter turnout than in the two most recent elections.
Registered Republican turnout ultimately swept Democratic numbers in the county, as of 7:10 p.m. ending with 149,058 total votes compared to 127,018. Voters without party affiliation closed, so far, with 48,201 votes.
The overall turnout among registered voters ended at 50 percent. By comparison, the last midterm election saw a higher turnout of 63 percent in 2018. Presidential elections tend to have higher turnouts in general, with the 2020 election resulting in a 74 percent turnout.
Election results will be posted throughout the night here.
4:20 p.m. | Under three hours until the polls close
As Election Day winds down, registered Republicans still hold a significant lead in Duval County.
Republicans currently represent about 45 percent of the votes, followed by Democrats at just over 38 percent -- putting the Republican advantage at almost 20,000 votes.
Voters without party affiliation currently represent about 14 percent of the total votes so far. Overall voter turnout is reported at around 44 percent.
Everyone who has not yet voted must vote at their individual voting precinct which can be found here. Polls close at 7 p.m.
1:30 p.m. | Duval County reaches 40 percent turnout
Duval County reported a 40 percent turnout just after lunchtime.
Registered Republican voters currently hold almost a 17,000 vote lead over registered Democrats overall. Notwithstanding early votes, Republicans have submitted just over 35,000 votes Tuesday, followed by 20,200 registered Democrat votes and 10,200 votes without party affiliation.
11:45 a.m. | Images from outside polling places
Times-Union photographers Corey Perrine and Bob Self were in parts of Northeast Florida on Tuesday, capturing Election Day images. You can see some of their photos in this gallery.
11:40 a.m. | Duval County nearing 40 percent turnout
As we near lunchtime, the Duval County Elections Office reports a 38 percent turnout.
As of 11:30 a.m., about 45 percent of those who've voted are registered as Republican, 40 percent Democrats and almost 14 percent have No Party Affiliation. A few thousand are listed as "other."
9:50 a.m. | Steady number of voters, no long waits in North Jacksonville
The polling location at the North Jacksonville Church of God has also seen a steady number of voters since opening this morning.
Rachai Thornton, 44, said the process was "real smooth" to vote without long lines. She entered to vote at 9 a.m. and left at 9:07 a.m.
Voting in these elections is important to Thornton so she can have a voice and be a part of making change.
"Everybody is so divided by stuff that doesn't really matter. I think a lot of us have the same values, I just think some of the Democrats have gone too far left and some of the Republicans have gone too far right," Thornton told the Times-Union. "The regular people like us get overshadowed." — Katherine Lewin
9:20 a.m. | More than a third of Duval County registered voters have cast ballots
As of 9:10 a.m., the Duval County Elections Office showed that 220,550 people had turned out to vote (by mail, early voting. provisional or on Election Day) out of 655,840 active eligible voters.
In-person voting was at a little more than 25,000.
More Republicans, about 98,000 have voted so far than Democrats, about 90,000. No Party Affiliation was at about 30,000.
You can find more details on the Elections Office website.
9 a.m. |Voting smooth Tuesday morning on the Southside
Jackie Gibson, a poll worker at Southeast Regional Library, says there has been a steady stream of people arriving to vote since the polling opened at 7am. Voting has gone smoothly, she says.
Chris Bebee, 26, arrived to vote at about 8am. It’s his third time voting, and he thinks these elections are particularly important.
“Nice and smooth,” he says of the voting process. “Not too many issues.”
The Times-Union is monitoring how voting is going throughout the day. — Katherine Lewin
7 a.m. | Polls are open. What to know if you're voting in Duval and St. Johns counties
Polls opened at 7 a.m. and will remain open till 7 p.m. See polling locations in Florida.
Voters in line by 7 p.m. will be permitted to cast a ballot.
Voters can vote at their assigned polling location. A full list is available on county websites:
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Election Day 2022 in Florida: Live updates from Jacksonville voting
