Florida primary elections 2022 live updates: Charlie Crist defeats Nikki Fried to win Democratic gubernatorial primary

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

In statewide races, Charlie Crist, Nikki Fried, Cadance Daniel and Robert Willis are battling for the Democratic nomination to take on Gov. Ron DeSantis in the Nov. 8 general election.

In the Democratic primary for Florida Attorney General, Aramis Ayala, Daniel Uhlfelder and Jim Lewis are competing to unseat Republican incumbent Ashley Moody in November.

Two Republicans and three Democrats are vying for their party's nomination in the Florida Commissioner of Agriculture contest. The winners of each primary will advance to the general election.

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10 p.m. | Fried says she would accept invitation from Crist to be running mate

Despite a bitter Democratic primary, Nikki Fried said she would accept an invitation from Charlie Crist to be his running mate in his race against incumbent Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis.

She made her remarks during an interview with NBC News NOW’s Chuck Todd and Kristen Welker on Tuesday night following her primary defeat.

She also warned the national Democratic party that it needs to spend money on beating DeSantis in November or “we got some uphill battles in 2024.” DeSantis is widely considered to be a top GOP presidential candidate in the 2024 campaign.

"Ron DeSantis is our greatest threat to democracy," she said.

9 p.m. | Ayala way ahead in race for Democratic Attorney General nomination

Aramis Ayala appeared on her way to winning the Democratic nomination for Attorney General on Tuesday night.

She was holding a significant lead over her two rivals, Fort Lauderdale attorney Jim Lewis and Santa Rosa Beach attorney Daniel Uhlfelder. Ayala is the former Orlando area State Attorney.

Ayala had 45% of the vote, far ahead of Uhlfelder (28%) and Lewis (27%).

The winner will face incumbent Republican Attorney General Ashley Moody.

8:40 p.m. | Nikki Fried: 'Democracy is on the line in November'

In conceding defeat to Charlie Crist in her bid to win the Democratic gubernatorial primary, Agriculture commissioner Nikki Fried said Democrats must be united like never before and said she will "campaign up and down the ballot" to make sure that Democrats are elected.

"Democracy is on the line in November."

Fried said she's not done fighting for the state of Florida to make sure that Gov. Ron DeSantis is a one-term governor and a zero-term president.

She said that she wants to bring a change to the nearly three decades of one-party control in the state of Florida. She thanked her family, saying "Every day, I know that we have to build up a better future for the next generation."

She thanked her staff, notably mentioning Kevin Cate, who has been with her since 2018. She said her campaign sacrificed their time, families and energies for her campaign. She also thanked the Democratic Black Caucus for their support.

"This is a movement," Fried said. "Just like all the women that came before me and all the women that came after me, movements don't happen overnight. Change doesn't happen overnight."

Fried noted that she would not be standing on that stage if it weren't for the Black voters who helped her campaign in 2018 and brought voter turnout in large numbers.

"I have been so honored and so blessed to be your only statewide-elected Democrat."

"I know that this is just the start of a very long future that we will have together, and we will do it together."

8:20 p.m. |Charlie Crist cruises to victory over Nikki Fried

Charlie Crist swept Nikki Fried to win the Democratic primary for governor Tuesday night and now will quickly pivot to a campaign aimed at denying Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis a second term in November.

Crist, a former Republican governor now making his second attempt at the office as a Democrat, overwhelmed Fried, the agriculture commissioner and Florida’s only statewide elected Democrat. The Associated Press called the race only minutes after polls closed statewide at 8 p.m.

For Crist, a fixture in Florida politics for the past 30 years, Tuesday’s victory sets up a nationally watched contest with DeSantis, a potential future presidential contender who is sitting on $132 million cash-on-hand for his re-election bid.

8 p.m. | Crist shows sizable lead in race against Fried in Democratic primary for governor

With polls closed statewide in the 2022 Florida primary, early returns show Democratic gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist with a sizable lead over Nikki Fried, 60-35%.

Crist had a lead of about 318,000 votes, according to early returns tabulated by The Associated Press, which showed him with almost 708,000 votes in the closed Democratic primary versus only about 443,000 votes for Fried.

More than 2.2 million people cast their ballots by mail or early voted, while more than 1.3 million cast their ballots on Tuesday. Turnout was expected to be low for the Florida primary election.

7:40 p.m. | Did DeSantis boost turnout?

Gov. Ron DeSantis weighed in on the Aug. 23 primary contests in a big way, endorsing 30 school board candidates and barnstorming the state Sunday to campaign for them with big, raucous rallies.

DeSantis was hoping to boost turnout among Republicans, who have no competitive statewide primaries to draw them out. Did it work?

In Sarasota, where DeSantis held one of the rallies, Republican turnout was at 41% when the polls closed at 7 p.m.. Democratic turnout was even higher, at 46%, indicating left leaning voters also are fired up for school board races this year.

But Sarasota County has 51,000 more Republicans than Democrats, so Republicans don’t necessarily need to beat them in turnout. Even with a lower turnout rate, 15,000 more Republicans voted in Sarasota than Democrats.

If DeSantis boosted turnout enough to elevate his three endorsed candidates in Sarasota, it would be a huge win for the GOP, which is trying to get a conservative majority on the school board there for the first time in years.

7:20 p.m. |DeSantis, Rubio to campaign together statewide in 'Keep Florida Free' tour

Gov. Ron DeSantis and Sen. Marco Rubio, each running for re-election, are wasting no time in hitting the campaign trail.

The Republican Party of Florida announced Tuesday that both statewide candidates will headline the "Keep Florida Free" tour, beginning tonight in Miami-Dade County. Other top Republicans are expected to join the tour.

The tour continues Wednesday with stops in Seminole, Duval, and Hillsborough counties to rally and unite Republicans for victory in November up and down the ballot to keep Florida RED," announced the RPOF in a statement to the media. Neither faced a primary opponent.

DeSantis awaits the winner of the Democratic contest between Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried and Charlie Crist, a former governor and current congressman from St. Petersburg.

In the U.S. Senate race, U.S. Rep. Val Demings is expected to defeat several lesser known candidates for the chance to compete against Rubio.

7 p.m. | Polls have closed in Florida primary election for most of state

Polls have closed in the 2022 Florida primary for all counties except those in the Panhandle. Any voters waiting in line when the polls closed are still allowed to cast a ballot.

More than 1.2 million Floridians voted on Election Day, according to the latest data from the Florida Division of Elections. Miami-Dade leads the way with more than 88,000 Election Day voters.

6:40 p.m. | Florida Democratic primary: About 1 in 5 cast early or mail-in ballots

As of Tuesday morning, more than 1 million Democrats had voted early or by mail, according to state elections officials. That represents roughly 21% of the more than 5 million registered Democrats in the state. Mail-in ballots received by local elections supervisor offices can still be counted if received before 7 p.m., local time.

More than 918,000 GOP voters voted early or by mail, representing about 18% of the state’s almost 5.2 million registered Republican voters.

What’s telling about turnout is the fact that more than 2.5 million Florida voters requested mail-in ballots but had not returned them as of Tuesday morning. That number includes 1 million Democratic voters and more than 700,000 GOP voters.

6:20 p.m. | More than 2 million voted early or by mail amid low turnout

More than 2.2 million people cast their ballots by mail or early voted in what’s expected to be low turnout for Tuesday’s Florida primary election.

The fewer number of voters — not unusual for a primary in a midterm election year — meant no long lines at the more than 5,700 voting precincts that opened early this morning across the state. The polls close at 7 p.m., local time.

As a closed primary, only registered Democrats and Republicans are eligible to vote for their party’s candidates.

6 p.m. | Gov. Ron DeSantis, Nikki Fried jab at each other on Primary Election Day

Gov. Ron DeSantis took part in a Cabinet meeting Tuesday's, primary Election Day, saying that he was happy not to face Republican opposition — just like fellow Republican members, Attorney General Ashley Moody and Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis.

Only Nikki Fried, the state’s Agriculture Commissioner was on the ballot Tuesday, in her run for the Democratic nomination for governor. And the selection of Tuesday for the panel’s first meeting in five months was clearly done to muck with the state’s lone elected statewide Democrat.

“Three of us didn’t have elections, so you’ve got to make decisions and so that’s just what we did,” DeSantis said.

DeSantis said he wouldn’t predict the outcome of the contest between Fried and Crist. But after shaking her hand following the Cabinet meeting and wishing her good luck, DeSantis turned on Fried when asked by a reporter about how she had run her campaign.

“I think that she had an opportunity as being the only Democrat elected statewide to demonstrate some leadership and get some things done and, instead, she used her time to basically try to smear me on a daily basis,” DeSantis said.

Fried later pushed back, defending her work as agriculture commissioner — and, she added, for holding DeSantis “accountable” on a host of policy issues.

“Not a job that I ran for in 2018. But a job that I had to do when he spent more time focusing on a 2024 (presidential) run than focusing on issues here in Florida,” Fried said.

Fried sprinted from one end of Florida to the other on Tuesday, voting in-person herself in Tallahassee and then traveling to meet voters at polling locations in South Florida in her quest to defeat Democratic gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist.

She and her campaign staff and supporters will be watching election returns in Fort Lauderdale. Crist will be in St. Petersburg on Tuesday night.

— John Kennedy

5:30 p.m. | Sen. Marco Rubio rips likely opponent Val Demings

Appearing on Fox & Friends on Tuesday morning, Republican Sen. Marco Rubio touted his record as a twice-elected member of the U.S. Senate, while bashing his likely opponent and Democratic U.S. Rep. Val Demings.

Rubio rattled off a list of legislation passed that included aiding veterans exposed to toxic burn pits, Veterans Administration reforms, the Child Tax Credit and the Paycheck Protection Program for small businesses — all accomplished, he emphasized, with President Joe Biden, a Democrat, in the White House

The long fight to pass a bill to cover millions of veterans’ care for cancer and lung problems linked to burn pits was signed into law this month by Biden. Demings voted in favor of the bill in the House.

He also told Fox News that he doesn’t pay attention to polls, dismissing the latest University of North Florida poll that found he was trailing Demings by four points, 48-44%.

Demings is expected to easily defeat several lesser known candidates in Tuesday’s Democratic primary for the chance to compete against Rubio in November.

5 p.m. | Polls close at 7 p.m. What to know if you're voting in Florida

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

Florida voters can vote at their assigned polling location. A full list, by county, is available on the Florida Division of Elections website. You can also find sample ballots on county websites.

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This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Primary Election Day in Florida: Live updates from statewide voting