Florida election 2022 live updates: Leon Co. turnout under 60%; DeSantis wins reelection

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 Tallahassee and Leon County are also on the ballot. Learn more about them here.

FLORIDA ELECTION RESULTS 2022: See results from local and statewide races

2022 midterm election: The ultimate Leon County, Tallahassee voter's guide

10 p.m. | Tallahassee, Leon Co. election updates

As precincts continued to report throughout the night, results for Tallahassee and Leon County elections revealed who would be securing their elected positions. Below is the latest on each of the area elections.

Tallahassee mayor race: John Dailey appears headed for victory over Kristin Dozier in Tallahassee mayor's race

Leon County Commission at-large race: Nick Maddox secures fourth term in Leon County Commission seat

U.S. House Florida District 2 race: Neal Dunn snatches seat from Al Lawson to become the sole Tallahassee congressman

Florida Senate District 3 race: 'Big red wave' leads Corey Simon to declare victory in Senate District 3 over Sen. Loranne Ausley

Florida House District 8 race: Gallop Franklin's landslide victory in House District 8 is local Democrats' lone state win

Leon County School Board District 4 race: Laurie Cox defeats Alex Stemle

Leon County Commission District 2 race: Christian Caban secures victory in race for County District 2 seat

Leon County Commission District 5 race: David O'Keefe takes strong early lead in Leon County's District 5 Seat

8:10 p.m. | DeSantis wins re-election bid

Gov. Ron DeSantis easily won reelection Tuesday 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.

Both Fox News and CBS News called the race for DeSantis shortly after polls close.

Florida governor race: Ron DeSantis wins in a landslide over Democrat Charlie Crist

7 p.m. | Voter turnout fails to crack 60%

With polls in Leon County closed, turnout stands at 57.25%, with 116,936 votes cast, according to unofficial figures.

That puts turnout in line with the 2014 midterm, when just under 57% of registered voters cast ballots and well below the 66% seen in 2018.

Democratic turnout hit 52.3%, more than 3 points lower than four years ago. Republican turnout reached nearly 32.4%, more than 3 points higher than in 2018.

6:30 p.m. | How to watch the results roll in at tallahassee.com

All will be revealed. Slowly.

At 7 p.m., when the polls close in Leon County, the counting begins.

Tallahassee.com will be your source for the latest state and local results. Bookmark this page as results roll in: https://www.tallahassee.com/elections/results/local/

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Stay tuned: Florida election 2022: See results from Tallahassee, Leon County voting

5 p.m. | Turnout crosses the 50% mark with two hours of voting to go

With only two hours left to go at the polls, turnout in Leon County has crossed the 50% mark. Turnout, which stands at 52% and 107,000 votes, so far appears strongest in the northeast (D4), the east (D5) and the northwest (D3) and weaker in the south (D1) and southwest (D2).

Republicans have nearly 33% of the vote in Leon County, up nearly 4 points from the 2018 midterm. Democrats have just over 52%, down around three points from four years ago.

The 2020 presidential election saw a turnout of 75%. In 2018, the county saw 66% of voters cast ballots.

4 p.m. | Need a ride to the polls?

The Tallahassee Urban League is holding a voter’s party until 6 p.m. at 923 Old Bainbridge Road and offering rides to the polls.

The voter party is available to everyone that voted and has a voter sticker. The voters party will include food, drinks, and music. Come out and party with the Tallahassee Urban League, after you have reclaimed your voted.

The rides to the polls are available until 6 p.m. for all citizens that need a ride to the polls. Please call 850-222-6111 today to schedule your ride.

12:45 p.m. | Jon Ausmann sees a red surge in blue Leon County

At noon today Leon County Democratic turnout is running at 44.5% while Republican turnout is 54.3%.

The difference between these two turnouts is 9.3% in favor of the Republicans. This is the largest gap going back to 1968 and likely well beyond that point as records end there.

Besides impacting local elections, the noon numbers are not looking good for Loranne Ausley, running for re-election in State Senate District Three or for Al Lawson running for re-election for Congress.

Good, bad news for incumbents: Three Tallahassee general election predictions | Jon Ausman

Democratic turnout districtwide in raw numbers is up 5,279 but one must apply a minimum of a five percent net defection rate which would put Republican challenger Corey Simon ahead by two thousand votes as of noon. The numbers for Al Lawson are worse.

If Democratic turnout in Leon County was simply equal to Republican turnout that would mean 7,200 more Democrats would be going to the polls today to vote.

Jon M. Ausman is the longest serving member of the Democratic National Committee in Florida’s history (December 1992 to January 2017). He can be reached at ausman@embarqmail.com or at 850-321-7799.

12:20 p.m. | Turnout highs and lows

Leon County turnout in the general election is nearly 43%, with some 87,367 ballots cast so far, according to the Supervisor of Elections office.

There were still signs of sluggish turnout at several large predominantly African-American precincts. Turnout at the Jack McLean Center and Bethel A.M.E. Church, both in District 1, stood at around 20%, while turnout at the Aquilina Howell Conference Center in District 2 was only slightly over 11%.

Turnout was also modest at several student precincts, including the Florida A&M University Student Union, with 13%, and the Florida State University Student Services Building, with 16.5%.

Turnout appeared stronger across District 3 in the northwest, District 4 in the northeast and District 5 in the east, where several precincts topped 50%.

Some of the larger precincts with the highest turnout include Good Shepherd Catholic Church (District 4) with 52%, Freedom Church 1st Assembly of God (District 3) with just over 55%, and Morningside Baptist Church (District 5) with 54.37%.

12 p.m. | Voter vignettes

Photojournalist Alicia Devine caught up with three voters this morning at the Sue McCollom and Jack McLean Community Centers to take the temperature of electorate and to share why they voted the way they did.

11:15 a.m. | Candidate party planner

On election night, some candidates gather with family and friends to watch results roll in and others throw a party. Here's a breakdown of where candidates will be tonight.

In the Tallahassee Mayor's race, Kristin Dozier and her supporter will be on the patio at The Moon on East Lafayette Street. Mayor John Dailey will have his election night party at Andrew's restaurant, 228 S. Adams St., from 7-9 p.m.

In the Leon County Commission Commission At Large, Group 2, race, incumbent Nick Maddox and his supporters will be at JoEllen’s at 215 W College Ave #101 at 7 p.m. Opponent Josh Johnson, who is in a runoff with Maddox, will be with his supporters at Waterworks 7 p.m.

In the Leon County District 2 race, Hannah Crow will be at Los Compadres at 2102 W Pensacola St, Tallahassee, FL 32304. Christian Caban will be at The Warehouse at 115 W College Ave.

In the Leon County District 5 race, Paula DeBoles Johnson will be at home with family while O'Keefe will be at the Warhorse Eastside, 1184 Capital Circle NE.

In the Florida House District 8 race, Democrat Gallop Franklin will be monitoring the vote tally at a private gathering while Republican Curt Bender will be watching results with family at a home.

In the Florida District 3 Senate race, incumbent Loranne Ausley will be watching returns at home with family. The Corey Simon campaign and local Republicans will be holding a watch party at Proof.

In the U.S. District 2 House Race, Al Lawson and Neal Dunn will be gathering with supporters in their bases of support. Lawson is scheduled to be at The Moon in Tallahassee, while Dunn will be at the Holiday Inn at 2001 Martin Luther King Blvd. in Panama City.

Seeing Red: An energized Florida GOP looks to topple two Tallahassee titans, Al Lawson and Loranne Ausley

9 a.m. | Vote with confidence

It's cramming time. For those who need to study up on the candidates and issues, we got you covered with our ultimate election guide.

You’ll find head-to-head comparisons of the candidates on the issues of the day and what’s at stake. Watch candidate debates on our YouTube page and check back Tuesday night for all the latest results and analysis.

More: Tallahassee, Leon candidate forums: With November election near, here's how to watch replays

Click here to get started: The ultimate Leon County, Tallahassee voter's guide to the 2022 general election

7 a.m. | Voters casting ballots, mail-in turnout low but 'It all hinges on today'

Polls are opening smoothly across Leon County as voters begin to cast ballots in the general election.

Leon County Supervisor of Elections Mark Earley said there are no reported issues as polls opened at 7 a.m.

“I’ve got my staff and systems in place to make it very easy for our poll workers to check in an let us know if they’re having any problems,” he said.

Several closely watched races, both statewide and locally, are likely to be decided by voter turnout Tuesday.

Early said this year is comparable to 2014 when an incumbent governor was running and overall turnout was around 56%.

More: Turnout so far in Leon County appears low among Black voters, high among Republicans

Roughly 37,000 people have already cast early and mail-in ballots marking a turnout of 33% going into Election Day. Earley said that’s about half of all the 68,000 mail-in ballots requested and many races will come down to how many people cast ballots today.

“There's a lot of vote-by-mail ballots still in the hands of voters. I will say that turnout is a bit low through early voting, but the vote by mail is up,” he said. “So, it all hinges on today.”

Statewide, there have been reports of aggressive efforts to monitor voting and counts by partisan volunteers. Earley said such poll watchers should never talk to or interact with voters, but he didn’t expect any issues in the capital city.

More: Partisan poll-watchers in Florida on guard to thwart voter suppression, 'Stop the Steal'

“That always raises a bit of concern, and maybe in other states there is,” he said. “But really in Florida, we’ve not seen any concerns with that and certainly not here in Leon County.”

With tight races possible for state Senate, governor, Tallahassee mayor and Leon County commission, Earley stressed patience as votes are tallied this evening.

“You may not know all the results tonight because there might be some close races but over the next few days we’ll get everything tabulated,” he said. “Get out and vote. We do this for the voters and that’s why we're here. Get out and do your part and we’ll get your votes counted very swiftly.”

7 a.m. | Polls are open. What to know if you're voting in Leon County

Polls opened at 7 a.m. and will remain open until 7 p.m. Voters in line by 7 p.m. will be permitted to cast a ballot.

Florida voters must vote at their assigned polling precinct. Find your voting location by using this Leon County voter information tool.

A guide to voter rights in Florida: What you need to know before you cast a ballot

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This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Election Day 2022 in Florida: Live updates from Leon County voting