Primary elections: Two Florida House races go to the wire while Caruso, Skidmore easily win

Two Florida House District primary races with Palm Beach County boundaries went all the way to the wire Tuesday night.

In the State House District 91 GOP primary, Peggy Gossett-Seidman edged Christina DuCasse by fewer than 500 votes. And in a four-person race for the State House District 93 Democratic primary, Katherine Waldron appeared to outlast three other candidates by fewer than 200 votes to win that spot in the November election.

Election results:  See the latest from local and statewide races

Florida primary updates: No polling place issues in Palm Beach County

More local races: McGovern easily wins contentious Democratic primary fight for District 6 commission seat

A look at all the five state races that encompass Palm Beach County:

Florida House District 87: Mike Caruso rolls to easy victory

State legislator Mike Caruso easily defeated real estate agent Jane Justice by nearly a 2-to-1 margin in Tuesday's GOP District 87 of Florida's House of Representatives race.

As of Wednesday, Caruso had 67.6% and Justice 32.4%.

Caruso, a 63-year-old certified public accountant, had represented District 89 in the Florida House since 2018. But redistricting — a redrawing of district lines every decade after each census — shrank District 89 and moved it west, away from the coastal Palm Beach County strip Caruso had represented.

Now that strip, which stretches from Juno Beach in the north and takes in coastal sections of Riviera Beach, West Palm Beach and Lake Worth Beach, will be the new District 87, and Caruso will continue to represent the residents who live there.

Justice, a 66-year-old political newcomer, was a self-described "ultra-MAGA" Republican.

Caruso faces: Democrat Sienna Osta, a 35-year-old lawyer, this November in the general election.

Florida House District 91: Peggy Gossett-Seidman wins close race

Highland Beach Commissioner Peggy Gossett-Seidman narrowly defeated Boca Raton resident Christina DuCasse in Tuesday's District 91 Republican primary.

As of Wednesday, Gossett-Seidman had captured 52.5% of the vote and DuCasse 47.5%.

The district is composed of Boca Raton, Highland Beach and parts of suburban Boca Raton.

Gossett-Seidman faces: Democrat Andy Thomson, a 36-year-old attorney who was elected to the Boca Raton City Council in 2018. Thompson ran unopposed in the primary and will be on the November ballot.

Florida House District 92: Kelly Skidmore wins Democratic primary in landslide

State Rep. Kelly Skidmore of Boca Raton will continue her tenure in the Florida Legislature by representing District 92, which covers western Boynton Beach, Delray Beach and Boca Raton, between Aberdeen Golf & Country Club and Boca Winds.

Skidmore easily defeated political newcomer Hasan Zahangir in Tuesday night's Democratic primary for a newly redrawn district covering southwestern Palm Beach County communities.

Skidmore's previous district, shaken up through the redistricting triggered by the 2020 U.S. census, had reached to the county’s western border in the Glades.

As of Wednesday, Skidmore had 91.7% of the vote and Hasan Zahangir only 8.3%.

Zahangir of Boynton Beach, a 59-year-old former small business owner before deciding to run, had never before run for public office, but served as a previous president of the Bangladeshi-American Democratic Club.

Skidmore faces: Dorcas Hernandez, a business owner, who was the sole candidate for the Republican party and will appear on the November ballot.

Florida House District 93: Katherine Waldron appears to win narrow race in Democratic primary

In a race that wasn't decided until late Tuesday, Port of Palm Beach Commissioner Katherine Waldron appeared to win by the narrowest of margins in the Florida House District 93 Democratic primary.

Four Democrats — youth director Shelly Albright, social worker Seth Densen, legislator staff member Tom Valeo and Waldron — were competing essentially to replace Matt Willhite, whose old District 86 covered much of the same territory as District 93.

Willhite's decision to leave the state House to run for the Palm Beach County Commission left the newly drawn District 93 open.

As of Wednesday, Waldron had 31.2% of the vote, followed closely by Albright (30.2%) and Valeo (28%). Densen had 11%.

It is still possible there could be a recount, which would occur when the margin between the top vote totals is less than or equal to .5% of the total votes.

The 93rd House district includes the village of Wellington and stretches east to include portions of Greenacres, Lake Worth Beach and Boynton Beach in unincorporated Palm Beach County.

Winner faces: Republican Saulis Banionis, a Wellington physician who ran unopposed Tuesday, in the November general election.

Florida Senate District 26: Delray Beach's Steve Byers wins GOP primary

Steve Byers of Delray Beach edged William Wheelen of Wellington in Tuesday's GOP primary for the newly drawn Senate District 26, which covers the east coast from Boynton Beach to the northern part of Boca Raton, and out to the western boundary of Palm Beach County, including the Glades.

As of Wednesday, Byers had 58.8% of the vote and Wheelen 41.2%

Byers — who calls himself as a "serial entrepreneur" holding the titles of a beekeeper, an insurance claims adjuster and the founder of Hilltop Christian Fellowship in Monticello — said inflation, election integrity and education were his top priorities.

Byers faces: Democratic state Sen. Lori Berman in the November general election.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: 2022 Primary Election Day results: Florida House, Senate races