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Florida primaries set up
Florida voters chose nominees Tuesday to replace term-limited Gov. Ron DeSantis and to complete the remainder of Secretary of State Marco Rubio's unexpired U.S. Senate term, with the state also holding its first congressional primaries since adopting a redrawn district map designed to boost Republican candidates in November.
“Florida voters will select nominees Tuesday to replace term-limited Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis”
Rep. Byron Donalds was projected by CNN to win the Republican nomination for governor and will face Democrat David Jolly, who was also projected to win Florida’s Democratic gubernatorial primary.
In the Senate contest, CNN projected that State Rep. Angie Nixon, a democratic socialist, would win the Democratic primary over Alex Vindman and advance to face Sen. Ashley Moody.
CNN also projected that Republican Ryan Elijah would win the GOP primary for Florida’s 7th District, beating out incumbent Republican Congressman Cory Mills, while Democrat Bale Dalton was projected to win the Democratic primary for the same district.
In Alaska, BBC reported that Republicans watched incumbent US Senator Dan Sullivan as a challenger with the same name entered the race, with the ballot distinguishing the incumbent as “Senator Dan Sullivan” and the challenger as “Daniel J Sullivan, Jr”.
Endorsements, money, and insults
CBS News projected that Donalds defeated several primary challengers, including far-right online provocateur James Fishback, and that Jolly defeated several challengers for the Democratic nomination to set up the general election match.
Newsweek reported that prediction markets gave Donalds a 97 to 99 percent chance of winning heading into Election Day, with Polymarket putting Donalds at 99 percent and Fishback below 1 percent.
In CNN’s coverage of the governor race, Fishback had called Donalds, who is Black, a “slave to his donors” and a “DEI Republican” who would “turn Florida into a Section 8 ghetto.”
CNN also described the Senate primary upset, saying Vindman outraised Nixon by about $16 million to $1 million and had more than $7 million in the bank as of his last pre-primary fundraising report.
CNN quoted Fishback after the primary, saying, “Until we put America first at the front and center of our movement, we may concede tonight but we will not concede this fight.”
What changes next
The primary outcomes set up November contests that would determine control of Florida, with CBS News projecting that Donalds and Jolly would face off in the governor’s race after both won their party nominations.
“setting up the general election match to control the nation's third-largest state”
In the Senate race, CNN projected that Ashley Moody would face Angie Nixon in November after Nixon advanced from the Democratic primary, while BBC reported that in Florida’s Senate race US media projected Republican Ashley Moody and Democrat Angie Nixon to win their respective party primaries.
CNN also projected that in the redrawn House map, Debbie Wasserman Schultz would win the nomination for Florida’s redrawn 20th District and Jared Moskowitz would beat a democratic socialist in the 25th District.
In Florida’s 7th District, CNN projected a match-up between Navy veteran and former NASA chief of staff Bale Dalton, a Democrat, and Republican Ryan Elijah, after Elijah defeated Trump-backed incumbent Cory Mills.
Beyond Florida, BBC reported that Wyoming’s Republican primary would function as a preview of the general election in the deep red state, with Republican Governor Mark Gordon term limited and three candidates—Megan Degenfelder, Eric Barlow, and Brent Bien—vying to replace him.
