Hillsborough Co. Primary Election: Key Congressional, Statehouse Seats

HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, FL — It may not be a presidential election year but, for Hillsborough County and fellow Florida voters, this year's primary on Aug. 23 and general election Nov. 8 will set the political tone for the Sunshine State for the next four years.

With U.S. House and Senate seats, the governor's mansion and key positions in the Florida Legislature up for grabs, Democrats are determined to turn an increasingly red state back to ocean blue.

That's especially true in Hillsborough County, one of the seven counties along the legendary Interstate 4 corridor, which forecasts the political temperature of the rest of the state with eery accuracy. In both the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections, votes within the I-4 corridor were within less than 0.5 percent of the statewide result.

Once solidly blue, Democrats have been struggling in recent years to hang on to their majority in Hillsborough County, the fourth most populous county in Florida, as the GOP gained a foothold in Congress and the Legislature after assuming control of the Governor's Mansion.

The last four occupants of the mansion have been Republicans, starting with Jeb Bush from 1999 to 2007, Charlie Crist from 2007 to 2011 (before switching to the Democratic party in 2012), Rick Scott from 2011 to 2019 and current Gov. Ron DeSantis, elected in 2019.

As the the voter registration deadline for the primary on July 25, the Democratic party holds the majority with 340,696 registered voters to the Republican party's 284,715 registered voters. Another 284,715 are registered with no party affiliation in Hillsborough County.

As of Friday, 25,997 of Hillsborough's 908,954 registered voters have voting early and another 101,168 residents have voted by mail for a voter turnout of 13.99 percent.

Democrats are leading with 61,206 votes the Republicans' 46,789 votes.

At stake in the primary for the Democratic nominee for governor between Florida Commissioner of Agriculture Nikki Fried and former governor and current congressman Charlie Crist.

In the primary battle to remove U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio are Democrats U.S. Rep. Val Demings, Ricardo De La Fuente, Brian Rush and William Sanchez.

Also up for grabs is the District 14 congressional seat, now held by Kathy Castor, who faces Democrat Christopher Bradley in the primary while three Republicans — James Judge, Samar "Sam" Nashagh and Jerry Torres — attempt to snatch the seat from its Democratic strongheld.

Congressional District 15, which includes Brandon, Plant City, Lakeland and Bartow, has attracted a large field of candidates from both parties including Democrats Gavin Brown, Alan M. Cohn, Eddie Geller, Cesar Ramirez and William VanHorn and Republicans including Florida Sen. Kelli Stargel, state Rep. Jackie Toledo, Demetries "Commander" Grimes, Laurel Lee and Kevin "Mac" McGovern.

Races of interest include the Florida District 62 House race, which will pit veteran politician and former state Rep. Wengay "Newt" Newton against civil rights and social justice attorney and current District 70 state House Rep. Michele K. Rayner and political newcomer and Black activist Jesse Philippe; and three Hillsborough County School Board nonpartisan races following the most contentious years the school board has ever faced.

Other races to watch include the battle between Republicans Jim Boyd and John Houman to fill the District 20 Florida Senate seat vacated by Danny Burgess; the Republican race for the District 16 congressional seat between seasoned Congressman Vern Buchanan and self-professed bully Martin Hyde; and the race to replace District 4 Hillsborough County Commissioner Stacy White who is unable to run due to term limits.

Who's Running In The Primary?

Democratic Ballot

United States Senator

• Ricardo De La Fuente
• Val Demings
• Brian Rush
• William Sanchez

U.S. House Representative District 14

• Christopher Bradley
• Kathy Castor

U.S. House Representative District 15

• Gavin Brown
• Alan M. Cohn
• Eddie Geller
• Cesar Ramirez
• William VanHorn

Governor And Lieutenant Governor

• Charlie Crist and Cadance Daniel
• Nicole "Nikki" Fried and Robert L. Willis

Attorney General

• Aramis Ayala
• Jim Lewis
• Daniel Uhlfelder

Commissioner of Agriculture

• Naomi Esther Blemur
• J.R. Gaillot
• Ryan Morales

State Representative District 62

• Wengay "Newt" Newton
• Jesse Philippe
• Michele K. Rayner

Republican Ballot

U.S. House District 14

• James Judge
• Samar "Sam" Nashagh
• Jerry Torres

U.S. House District 15

• Demetries "Commander" Grimes
• Laurel Lee
• Kevin "Mac" McGovern
• Kelli Stargel
• Jackie Toledo

U.S. House District 16

• Vern Buchanan
• Martin Hyde

Commissioner of Agriculture

• James W. Shaw
• Wilton Simpson

State Representative District 65

• Karen Gonzalez Pittman
• Jake Hoffman
• Michael C. Minardi

State Representative District 68

• Paul Hatfield
• Lawrence McClure

Universal Primary And Nonpartisan Races

State Senator District 20

• Jim Boyd-Republican
• John Houman-Republican

Board of County Commissioners District 4

• Noelle Licor-Republican
• Michael Joseph Owen-Republican

Circuit Judge, 13th Judicial Circuit Group 6

• Belinda Noah
• Wesley Tibbals

Circuit Judge, 13th Judicial Circuit Group 37

• Nancy L. Jacobs
• Jared Smith

County Court Judge Group 14

• Melissa Black
• Alicia Whiting Bozich
• Linette "Starr" Brookins
• Mike Isaak

School Board Member District 2

• Damaris Allen
• Stacy Hahn

School Board Member District 4

• Hunter Gambrell
• Patricia "Patti" Rendon
• Danielle Smalley

School Board Member District 6

• Roshaun Gendrett
• Alysha "Aly Marie" Legge
• Karen Perez

School Board Referendum

Shall the School Board of Hillsborough County levy an ad valorem operating millage of 1 mil
annually for fiscal years July 1, 2023, through June 30, 2027, to increase compensation to recruit and retain highly qualified teachers and staff, expand art, music and physical education, expand workforce development, sharing funds with charter schools proportionate with student enrollment as required by law, with annual reporting to ensure proper stewardship of funds to taxpayers?

Yes

No

Primary Day Voting

On the day of the primary, you must vote in your precinct. If you try to vote at the wrong polling place, your vote will not count.

For every election, the supervisor of elections has to change the location of some of polling places.

Click on the Find My Precinct button to find your correct precinct and voting location, as well as information on polling places that have changed.

Polling places are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Aug. 23. If you are in line at 7 p.m., you will be allowed to vote, but if you arrive at the polling place after 7 p.m., you will not be allowed to vote.

To avoid delays at the polling place, bring one or two forms of current identification that include your signature and photo. Without proper identification, you may still vote a provisional ballot, which will later be evaluated by a canvassing board for eligibility. Any of the forms acceptable for early voting are also acceptable for election day voting.

If your photo ID does not include your signature, you will be asked to provide another ID that has your signature.

Voters are welcome to bring a sample ballot to the polling place marked with their choices so there are no delays in voting.

When you arrive at the polls:

1. Check in with your valid and current photo and signature ID.
2. Receive your paper ballot and proceed to a privacy booth.
3. Using the black pen provided, completely fill in the oval next to each of your selections.
4. Review your ballot. If you wish to make changes, request another ballot.
5. If you have any questions, ask a poll worker before you insert the ballot in the scanner. Once a ballot has been accepted, it cannot be retrieved.

If you are satisfied with your selections:

• Take your ballot to the optical scanner in the secrecy folder provided.
• Insert your ballot into the optical scan feeder.
• The scanner will record your votes and place your ballot into the locked ballot box.
• The scanner will alert you if your ballot appears blank or if it detects too many votes.
• You will have the option to either submit the ballot as is or make changes.
• You are not required to vote in every race or for every issue on the ballot, therefore, the scanner will not alert you of instances in which you did not vote.