Florida primary election 2022: Pensacola has new mayor, recount in SR and runoffs galore

It's Election Day in Florida and voters are headed to the polls to cast ballots in local and statewide primary and nonpartisan races.

Top 2 candidates for Santa Rosa County School Board District 5 will face in runoff | 10:20 p.m.

Two incumbent Santa Rosa County School Board candidates will retain their seats on the board, and a third seat will be decided in a runoff election.

None of the three candidates vying for the District 5 seat garnered over 50% of the total votes on Tuesday night in primary. Therefore, the top two candidates for District 5 seat candidates, Scott Peden and Pete Peters, will advance to a runoff election on Nov. 6.

Peden and Peters emerged as the top contenders Tuesday night in the race for the Santa Rosa County School Board's District 5 seat.

While Peters garnered 13,861 votes in the primary, or nearly 41%, Peden received the votes of 12,628 voters, or nearly 37.35%.

Full story: Santa Rosa County School Board District 5 seat heads to runoff election

Two Escambia County School Board races decided Tuesday, one heads to November runoff | 10:15 p.m.

One incumbent running for the Escambia County School Board will retain his seat, while a second will vacant her seat on the board after losing to a challenger Tuesday night in the primary.

The winner of Escambia County School Board's District 2 seat will be determined in a runoff.

Full story: Incumbent Adams wins Escambia school board seat, Edler loses. Third seat heads to runoff.

Santa Rosa County Commission District 2 race heading to automatic recount | 10:05 p.m.

The GOP primary race for the District 2 commissioner seat in Santa Rosa County was too close to call Tuesday night and residents will have to wait while a machine recount is conducted.

At 9 p.m., with all the precincts reporting in the county, Kerry Smith and Jeff Ates IV were the two frontrunners, logging margins inside 0.5% of each other, triggering an automatic recount.

Smith was ahead with 7,786 votes cast for him, compared to 7,748 for Ates.

Rickie Cotton was in third with 7,204 of the vote, about 2% less than the top two. Howard Steele trailed with 4,399 votes.

Full story: Too close to call: Automatic recount triggered in Santa Rosa District 2 commission race

Scott Ritche beats Paul Hamlin for Escambia County judge seat | 9:30 p.m.

Longtime assistant public defender Scott Ritchie has won the open Escambia County Group 1 County judge seat.

As of 9:25 p.m. with 67 of 79 precincts reporting, Ritchie obtained 34,801 votes, 64.32%, beating out his challenger Paul Hamlin, who obtained 19,307 votes.

The judge race will not move to the general election since Ritchie won with more than 50% of the votes.

Full story: Scott Ritchie secures win over Paul Hamlin for Escambia County judge seat

D.C. Reeves elected Pensacola mayor, winning enough votes to avoid runoff | 9:25 p.m.

D.C. Reeves will be the next mayor of Pensacola.

In a first under the city's 2010 charter, Reeves has won with enough vote share to make a runoff unnecessary with a total of 7,529 votes, or 51.44%, with all 20 precincts reporting.

Cannada-Wynn won 2,879 votes, or 19.64%, putting her in second place.

Steven Sharp was in third with 2,351votes, or 16.06%, and Sherri Myers was in fourth with 1,878 votes, 12.83%, eliminating both candidates from the contest.

Full story: D.C. Reeves is elected next mayor of Pensacola, wins with enough votes to avoid runoff

Michelle Salzman beats Mike Hill in Florida House District 1 GOP primary | 9:15 p.m.

Incumbent Michelle Salzman has defended her state House District 1 seat from challenger and former state Rep. Mike Hill.

Salzman held a 5,092 vote lead over Hill with 57 of the 79 Escambia County precincts reported. Salzman had 10,025 votes (67.02%) to Hill's 4,933 votes (32.98%).

Salzman had a huge fundraising advantage over Hill, raising $277,641 by August's end, compared to the $44,703 raised by Hill.

Salzman and Hill also faced in the Republican primary in 2020, when Salzman won the nomination to unseat Hill.

Full story: Michelle Salzman once again beats Mike Hill in Florida House District 1 race

Pensacola City Council District 6 race heads to runoff with Hill, Patton | 9:05 p.m.

Pensacola District 6 City Councilwoman Ann Hill and challenger Allison Patton are heading to a runoff election in November after Tuesday's city election results.

Patton had 1,074 votes, 42.7%, and Hill had 887 votes, 35.27%, while Maureen "Mo" Padden had 554 votes, 22.03%, with all four precincts reporting.

While Patton upset the incumbent Hill, she missed the 50% required to avoid a runoff between the top two finishers.

Full story: Pensacola City Council District 6 race heads to runoff between Ann Hill and Allison Patton

Escambia County Commissioner Robert Bender wins GOP primary | 9 p.m.

Robert Bender won out against Republican challenger Stan McDaniels in the Republican primary and will face a Democratic challenger to the District 4 Escambia County Commission seat in November.

By 9:16 p.m., Bender had captured over half of all possible votes with 6,991 votes to McDaniels' 1,904 votes, with 19 of the 19 precincts reported.

Democratic candidate Myra Van Hoose ran unopposed in the Democratic primary and will face Bender in the Nov. 8 general election.

Full story: Robert Bender wins Republican primary, will face Democratic challenger Myra Van Hoose

Mike Kohler wins Escambia County Commission District 2 seat | 8:55 p.m.

Retired Navy captain Mike Kohler has won the Escambia County Commissioner District 2 primary election, filling current Commissioner Doug Underhill's seat.

As of 8:30 p.m. with 14 of 16 precincts reporting, Kohler won with 3,984 votes, 47.86%, while candidates Kevin Brown and Chance Walsh respectively received 2,453 and 1,887 votes.

The retired Navy officer automatically wins the general election because there was no Democratic or third-party candidate running for the District 2 commissioner seat.

Full story: Mike Kohler takes Escambia County Commission District 2 seat with primary win

Pensacola City Council District 2 race heads for runoff between Bare and Powell | 8:45 p.m.

Pensacola's City Council District 2 race is heading to a runoff election in November between Charles Bare and Char Powell.

Brian Hoffman and Brian Wyer trailed behind the top two finishers in the race with both precincts in District 2 reporting results.

The District 2 race was a competition between neighbors to fill the seat Council Sherri Myers is being forced to vacate because of term limits. All four candidates live in The Reserve subdivision.

Full story: Pensacola City Council District 2 race heads to runoff between Charles Bare, Char Powell

Alex Andrade wins GOP primary for Florida House District 2 | 8:40 p.m.

Alex Andrade has advanced to November's general election in his bid to retain his seat as the Florida House representative for District 2.

The incumbent cruised past his two Republican challengers in Tuesday's primary, former Major League Baseball player Greg Litton and U.S. Air Force veteran Jordan Karr.

Andrade, now seeking his third term in office, benefitted from more name recognition and a far deeper war chest than his opponents. He raised about $183,000 in donations and expended nearly $153,000, according to the Florida Division of Elections' website.

Full story: Alex Andrade beats out 2 challengers in bid to retain Florida House District 2 seat

Linda Sanborn, Carol Boston keep seats on Santa Rosa County School Board | 8:30 p.m.

Two incumbent Santa Rosa County School Board candidates will retain their seats on the board.

Both Linda Sanborn, running for the District 1 seat, and Carol Boston, running for the District 3 seat, handily beat their respective opponents.

The three-candidate race for Santa Rosa County School Board's District 5 remained too close to call as of 8:15 p.m. Tuesday.

Full story: Linda Sanborn, Carol Boston reelected to Santa Rosa County School Board

Doug Broxson wins Republican primary for Florida Senate District 1 | 8:25 p.m.

State Sen. Doug Broxson easily defended a challenge by opponent John Mills on Tuesday to win the Republican primary for Florida’s 1st District and secure a place on the general election ballot.

Preliminary vote counts showed Broxson had about 75% of votes with the majority of precincts in Okaloosa and Santa Rosa counties reported, as well as about half of Escambia County precincts counted.

Broxson will face Democrat Charlie Nichols, who was unopposed on the primary ballot in the general election Nov. 8.

Full story: Incumbent Doug Broxson wins GOP primary for Florida 1st District Senate seat

Joel Rudman beats Mariya Calkins in GOP primary to win Florida House District 3 seat | 8:15 p.m.

Joel Rudman beat out Mariya Calkins for the Florida House District 3 seat in the Republican primary on Tuesday.

Without a Democratic challenger, Rudman will secure the seat that was previously occupied by state Rep. Jayer Williamson.

As of 8 p.m., with 30 out of 41 precincts reporting in Santa Rosa County and 48 of 52 reporting in Okaloosa County, Rudman had 61.64% of the vote, with 15,594 votes to Calkins' 9,704.

Full story: Joel Rudman wins GOP primary over Mariya Calkins, secures Florida House District 3 seat

Jones wins Democratic primary, will face Gaetz for House seat | 7:55 p.m.

Democrat Rebekah Jones will face U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz in the battle for Florida's 1st Congressional District race, according to early results.

Jones beat out Peggy Schiller, who tried unsuccessfully to get Jones removed from the primary ballot alleging Jones had been a registered "unaffiliated" for a crucial two-month period while Jones lived in Maryland.

Full story: Rebekah Jones wins Democratic primary, will take on Matt Gaetz for U.S. House seat

Gaetz wins Republican nomination in House race for 1st Congressional District | 7:40 p.m.

U.S. Rep Matt Gaetz fended off a well financed challenge Tuesday to win the 1st Congressional District GOP primary race for the U.S. House, according to unofficial early AP results.

His Democrat opponent in the general election on Nov. 8 is not yet official. Gaetz beat newcomer Mark Lombardo, as well as Greg Merk.

Full story: Matt Gaetz wins GOP nomination for House in Florida's 1st Congressional District

Voting to give everyone an 'equal voice' | 5:30 p.m.

Shelly Darr cruised into the parking lot of Christ Episcopal Church in Pensacola on her bike Tuesday afternoon excited to get a chance to vote in the primaries.

Darr works at Safe Families for Children, a nonprofit that keeps families together through crisis, homelessness and adoption. She had been planning to vote for a while and when she heard from a friend that today was the day by a friend, she hopped on her bike to help bring change to the communities she serves.

Darr said she sees it as her civic duty to help anyone she can stay afloat if she sees them struggling. To her that duty includes voting for people who will help families stay together during these difficult times. She noted many candidates create laws that matter to struggling families.

"My heart is to vote for people that are actually committed to working and helping to relieve poverty, helping to lower incarceration rates for people for nonviolent crimes, to give back to the community, and to lower rent," Darr said.

Frances Miller, a voter who moved to Pensacola in 1979 from Mississippi, said she has always known the importance of casting her ballot. She has been advocating for the importance of voting since she was in high school and has taken part in voting her entire adult life.

Miller said she's gone to hear the local candidates for judge and city council races speak and even had a few over her house, which has shifted her mind on who she wanted to vote for. Miller lives close to Belmont-Devilliers area and wanted to vote for people who would help women and minorities, groups she said are usually ignored in the city.

"One of my big things about voting is just to give an equal voice to people in the South," Miller said. "Giving an equal voice is so important, and so those (who give everyone equal voices) are the people I voted for."

Santa Rosa County voter turnout at over 18% so far | 1:25 p.m.

Santa Rosa County Supervisor of Elections Tappie Villane said that as of 1 p.m., there have been no serious issues with voting during the primary election.

"We're fairly in line with other midterm primaries," she told the News Journal.

Right now, turnout is just over 18%. In the 2020 and 2018 primary elections the final turnout hovered closer to the 25 and 26% threshold, and Villane said she expects this year to look similar in turnout to those prior.

She said the next spike in crowds at the polls will come after kids are released from school and when the workday ends, but she warned that if rain comes, and the weather gets "nasty," that could play a factor in turnout.

Voter turnout already at almost 19% in Escambia County | 9:55 a.m.

When polls opened Tuesday in Escambia County about 31,083 people had voted early or by mail putting turnout at 14.07%. As the lunchtime hour approached, another 10,500 people had voted putting turnout at 18.79%.

Escambia Supervisor of Elections David Stafford told the News Journal on Monday that he was expecting turnout to reach the high 20% range when polls close at 7 p.m.

Stafford said some locations have changed compared to previous elections so voters should double check where they are registered to vote.

"The first election after the redistricting that followed the 2020 census," Stafford said. "So for a number of voters out there, their districts changed, which means or precincts could have changed, which means the polling places could change."

Stafford's office sent out new voting cards to all registered voters this year with the updated voting locations as well as sample ballots that had a QR code people could scan with their smartphone that would pull up a Google Maps direction to their polling place.

On Tuesday morning, no issues had been reported at the polls and Stafford said things were "going well."

As of 11:15 a.m., the Bayview Community Center was the busiest polling center with 384 voters casting ballots since 7 a.m. Pinewoods Presbyterian Church on 297A was also a busy location with 374 voters followed by Beulah Church on Mobile Highway with 310 voters.

In the Pensacola mayoral race, voters will choose among two long-time city council members and two political newcomers, after incumbent Mayor Grover Robinson chose not to run for reelection.

In Escambia and Santa Rosa counties, contests range from local school boards to U.S. Congress.

U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz faces Mark Lombardo and Greg Merk for the Republican nomination. On the Democratic ballot, voters can select between Rebekah Jones and Peggy Schiller.

Four seats in the Florida Legislature are also up for grabs, one in the Senate and three in the House.

Primary election 2022: Your complete guide to Escambia, Santa Rosa races and candidates

Election Laws: What changed in Florida's election laws

School Board Battleground: DeSantis will tour Florida to tout conservative school board candidates

Polls are open! What to know if you're voting in Escambia, Santa Rosa counties | 7 a.m.

Polling locations in Florida are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Voters in line by 7 p.m. will be permitted to cast a ballot.

Escambia and Santa Rosa voters can vote at their assigned polling location. A full list is available on the Escambia and Santa Rosa county websites. You can also find sample ballots there.

What kind of ID do I need to vote?

To vote in Florida, you must present a valid photo ID with signature. Here's what's accepted:

• Florida driver’s license

• Florida identification card issued by the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles

• United States passport

• Debit or credit card

• Military identification

• Student identification

• Retirement center identification

• Neighborhood association identification

• Public assistance identification

• Veteran health identification card issued by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs

• License to carry a concealed weapon or firearm issued pursuant to s. 790.06

• Employee identification card issued by any branch, department, agency, or entity of the Federal Government, the state, a county, or a municipality

According to the Florida Division of Elections, you can still vote on a provisional ballot if you don't bring proper ID. As long as you are eligible and voted in the proper precinct, your provisional ballot will count, provided the signature on your provisional ballot matches the signature in your registration record.

Support local journalism by signing up for a News Journal digital subscription.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Election Day in Florida: Live updates from Escambia, Santa Rosa voting