Gainesville’s primary election will determine the city’s mayor if a candidate receives the majority of the votes cast. Because Ward and Bielarski didn’t secure at least 50% of votes as of midnight Wednesday, they will compete in a runoff for the general election slated for Nov. 8.
Ed Book and James Ingle from District 2, as well as Dejeon Cain and Casey Willits from District 3, will face off in a runoff election Nov. 8. Bryan Eastman won the District 4 race.
Incumbent Marihelen Wheeler won the Democratic nomination and will face off against Republican candidate Ed Braddy for the District 2 Alachua County Commission seat in November.
In the aftermath of a controversial state redistricting cycle, Alachua County voters experienced the initial effects of redistricting in Tuesday’s primaries, including the race for a state House District seat. Some residents fear their vote could be silenced as a result of the change.
In Tuesday night’s District 22 primary election, State Rep. Chuck Clemons comfortably secured victory in the Republican race, but Democrats Olysha Magruder and Brandon Scott Peters were considerably closer to one another, with no clear winner despite all precincts in Alachua, Gilchrist and Levy Counties reporting their results.
McGraw won the Alachua County District 2 School Board race with 56.92% of the vote, about 14 percentage points more than school board member Mildred Russell. Russell was appointed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis after he removed McGraw in June 2021.
Tuesday's primary election has 14 races on the ballot, but if precedent proves correct, most Gainesville residents won't cast a vote in a single one.
Gainesville residents can vote in 14 races in the primary election. Early voting ended Sunday, but residents can vote at their designated precincts from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday.
The tour, which launched Tuesday, began on the heels of new University of North Florida poll that put Fried ahead of Crist by 4% in the Democratic primary.
Solutions by The State News
