Crist trounces Fried in Democratic primary, setting up showdown with Gov. DeSantis

Former governor Charlie Crist will challenge incumbent Gov. Ron DeSantis in November’s general election.

Crist beat Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried, winning the Democratic nomination.

The primary pitted Fried, a first-time elected official who cast herself as a progressive, savvy outsider candidate, against Crist, an established moderate voice in Florida politics who raised more money than Fried but far less than DeSantis in his third bid for governor. Crist goes on to face DeSantis, widely seen as a GOP powerhouse who could run for president, in a governor’s race that is expected to draw national attention. DeSantis has raised more than $100 million for his campaign.

Democrats see a tough battle ahead against a well-funded incumbent governor who holds sway over a conservative Legislature in a state where Republicans have overtaken Democrats in the number of registered voters.

Across races for seats from Congress to County Hall, election results as of 8:30 p.m. Tuesday showed some elections were decided, while others were closer.

Congressional races

▪ Senate: Early returns showed Val Demings, a former Orlando police chief and a three-term congresswoman, far ahead of three opponents in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate. Demings, 65, appeared to be on track to challenge incumbent Republican Sen. Marco Rubio in November’s general election.

▪ House District 27: Florida state Sen. Annette Taddeo will challenge incumbent Republican Maria Elvira Salazar in what may be Miami’s most competitive congressional race in November’s general election. Initial results show Taddeo, 55, far ahead of her two opponents in the Democratic primary, including Miami City Commissioner Ken Russell. Salazar, 60, was far ahead of her opponent, Frank Polo.

▪ House District 23: Jared Moskowitz, 41, Florida’s former emergency management director, was far ahead of five opponents in the Democratic primary for Florida’s 23rd Congressional District, the seat being vacated by Democratic Rep. Ted Deutch. Joe Budd led among seven Republican candidates.

▪ House District 20: Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick easily won the Democratic primary in a rematch of a special election held in January, when Cherfilus-McCormick beat former Broward County Mayor Dale Holness by just five votes to fill the seat left vacant after the death of former U.S. Rep. Alcee Hastings in 2021. Republican Drew Montez Clark is qualified for the November election.

Legislative races

▪ Florida House District 108: Early results showed incumbent Democrat Dotie Joseph, 42, was far ahead of former state Rep. Roy Hardemon, 60, who lost to Joseph in the 2018 primary for the same seat, and former North Miami City Clerk Michael Etienne.

▪ Florida Senate District 34: Sen. Shevrin Jones, first elected to represent what was then District 35, beat two opponents in the race to represent a reconfigured district that includes a swath of northwest Miami-Dade County. Jones, 38, was ahead of former corrections officer and consultant Pitchie Escarment, 44, and former schoolteacher and Miami Gardens council member Erhabor Ighodaro.

▪ Florida Senate District 35: State Sen. Lauren Book beat former Broward County Commissioner Barbara Sharief in a contentious race that sparked a lawsuit and attack ads between Book and Sharief, two Democrats vying to represent a newly redrawn district that includes Weston, Miramar, Pembroke Pines, Southwest Ranches, Cooper City and parts of Davie and Hollywood. Book, the 37-year-old nonprofit executive and Democratic leader in the Florida Senate, had not faced a primary opponent since she was first elected to the Legislature in 2016. Sharief, 50, was the first Black woman to be Broward County mayor.

Miami-Dade County Commission Races

▪ District 2: The race to represent a northern swath of Miami-Dade on the Board of County Commissioners will go to a runoff in the November general election. As of press time, the top two vote-getters were Philippe Bien-Aime, 57, mayor of North Miami, and Marleine Bastien, 63, nonprofit organization executive. They led the field of six in the race to replace Jean Monestime.

▪ District 4: Former Miami Beach City Commissioner Micky Steinberg won election in June when no one filed to run against her.

▪ District 6: The race to represent an area that stretches from Hialeah to the Snapper Creek Expressway will go to a runoff in the November general election. Kevin Marino Cabrera, 31, a lobbyist and public affairs consultant who was endorsed by former President Donald Trump, led the field. In second place was Jorge Fors, 39, a Coral Gables commissioner and a Republican, who has the endorsement of outgoing Commissioner Rebeca Sosa.

▪ District 8: Incumbent Danielle Cohen Higgins, a 41-year-old lawyer, held a decisive lead over two opponents with most of the votes counted.

▪ District 10: State Rep. Anthony Rodriguez held a large lead over three opponents with early results in. Rodriguez, 34, appeared to have enough of a lead to avoid a runoff.

▪ District 12: Four-term Doral Mayor Juan Carlos ‘JC’ Bermudez, 60, beat Sophia Lacayo, 44 and the owner of a tax-preparation business and other companies in the race to represent a slice of west Miami-Dade.

Miami-Dade School Board

▪ District 2: Incumbent Dorothy Bendross-Mindingall, 79, held a substantial lead over opponent La-Shanda West, 50, with early results reported Tuesday. Bendross-Mindingall, first elected in 2010, is a former state representative and principal.

▪ District 4: Roberto Alonso, 42, a Miami Dade College Board of Trustees member who was appointed by DeSantis in 2020 to serve a four-year term, held a decisive lead over two opponents with more than half of the vote counted. He was endorsed by DeSantis, though Alonso has insisted the endorsement has not politicized the School Board race.

▪ District 6: Early results showed incumbent Maria Teresa Rojas, 68, held a comfortable lead over opponent Sandra Manzieri, 56. Rojas has been in the seat since 2016 and also is the sister-in-law of Carlos Gimenez, the former Miami-Dade mayor and now a U.S. representative.

▪ District 8: Monica Colucci, a district teacher with ties to DeSantis, was leading her opponent, incumbent Marta Perez, a 71-year-old former district teacher who has held seat since 1998. Colucci has a strong conservative platform that emphasizes parental rights and a “back to basics” academic model that focuses on reading, writing, math and civics.

The race has attracted more money, over $372,000, than the other three School Board races, highlighting the role DeSantis is playing in local elections and how political they’ve become, even for this nonpartisan contest.