Val Demings Will Face Marco Rubio In FL U.S. Senate Race: AP

FLORIDA — Val Demings earned the Democratic nomination in Florida's U.S. Senate race Tuesday, based on unofficial results, according to the Associated Press.

She was expected to lead the pack of contenders for the party's nomination to face off against Republican incumbent Marco Rubio, who is seeking his third term, this fall. By winning the primary election, she'll go up against him Nov. 8.

"It’s time to replace no-show Marco with a senator that will never tire of fighting for the people of Florida. In November, the choice is clear and with your help we can win this race and flip Florida blue," Demings tweeted Tuesday night.

Polls closed at 7 p.m., but parts of the Panhandle are in the Central time zone. The first election results should appear on the state’s election website shortly after 8 p.m. Eastern time, The New York Times reported.Florida counties are required to release updates every 45 minutes until they have completed their counts, Mark Ard, a spokesman for the Florida Department of State, told the Times. A half-hour after the polls close, election supervisors in all 67 counties are required to report to the state early voting and vote-by-mail results that they have received so far.

Scroll down for real-time updates of election results. Refresh this page for updates.

Demings faced three Democratic challengers Ricardo De La Fuente, Brian Rush and William Sanchez.

Days ahead of the primaries, polls showed that she could unseat the Republican in the fall.

In a poll from the University of North Florida’s Public Opinion Research Lab, 48 percent of respondents indicated they’d vote for Val Demings, while 44 percent said they supported Rubio and 7 percent plan to vote for other candidates.

The UNF poll also indicated that she’ll easily defeat her opponents for the Democratic nod, as 80 percent of respondents said they’d likely vote for her. Four percent of those polled said they’d likely vote for Sanchez and Rush, while 2 percent said they’d vote for De La Fuente.

Rubio didn't face any Republican challengers in the primaries.

Since 2010, the 51-year-old Miami native, born to Cuban immigrants, has represented Florida in the U.S. Senate.

According to his website, he has one guiding objective: bring the American Dream back into the reach of those who feel it slipping away.”

Rubio has served on numerous committees during his time in Senate, including the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, the Foreign Relations Committee, the Appropriations Committee, the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, and the Special Committee on Aging. He also authored the Paycheck Protection Program for businesses impacted by COVID-19 and Americans out of work during the pandemic.

He ran for president in the 2016 elections, but dropped out in March of that year after coming in second to President Donald Trump in the Florida Republican primary, according to Ballotpedia.
Among his key issues are national security, immigration, health care, social issues and the economy.

Demings, 65, has served as a U.S. representative since 2017. Before this, the Jacksonville native served in the Orlando Police Department for 27 years. In 2007, she was named the agency’s first female chief of police, according to her website.

In the House, she currently works on the House Judiciary, Homeland Security and Intelligence committees.

Now, Demings is seeking to unseat Rubio in the U.S. Senate, writing on her campaign website, “I believe that only in America can a little black girl, the daughter of a maid and a janitor, growing up in the south in the ’60s, have such an amazing opportunity. No one can make me give up on America.”

Among her primary issues are jobs and the economy, health care, housing, the environment, and public safety.

Florida Senate Race: Primary Election 2022 Results

>> Real-time results for the U.S. Senate race are below, via the Florida Division of Elections. Be sure to refresh this page for updated results throughout the night.

Can't see the widget? Click here to open in a new tab.