In the Aug. 23, 2022 election two local candidates were elected, 13 candidates will move on to the November ballot and 24 candidates were eliminated. This was an important election not only because one member of the school board and one member of the county commission were elected, but candidate options were narrowed. Despite the importance of this election, there was slightly lower voter turnout in this year’s primary than in 2020, even though there are over 4100 more eligible voters currently. In Hernando County Republican voters out numbered Democrat voters almost two-to-one.
Florida has closed primaries, so you can only vote for who represents your party in some of the elections, but the school board races are non-partisan. The county commission district 4 race (between Jerry Campbell and Anthony Arenz) only had two Republicans in the race, so it was open to everyone.
Jerry Campbell was elected to the County Commissioner District 4 seat. Shannon Rodriguez was elected to the School Board District 3 seat.
The Democratic party winners were Val Demings for US Senate. She will face Marco Rubio in November. Charlie Crist won the governor primary and will face incumbent Ron DeSantis. Aramis Ayala won the primary for Attorney General and will face incumbent Ashley Moody. Naomi Esther Blemur won the primary for Commissioner of Agriculture and will run against Republican Wilton Simpson in November.
The Republican party primary winners were Gus Bilirakis, US Representative in Congress District 12. Bilirakis will face Democrat Kimberly Walker in the General Election. Walker was the only Democrat running. Wilton Simpson won the primary for Commissioner of Agriculture. State Representative District 52 was won by John Temple. John Temple’s opponent in the General Election is Ash Marwah, the only Democrat who ran. State Representative District 53 was won by Jeff Holcomb. Holcomb will run against Democrat Keith Laufenberg in November. Brian Hawkins won the primary for County Commissioner District 2. Hawkins will be on the ballot in November because a write-in candidate qualified for this race.
In the non-partisan races the top two candidates will face off in the November election since no candidate received over 50% of the vote. In School Board District 1 Kay Hatch and Mark Johnson will face off. In School Board District 5 race Susan D. Duval will face Monty Floyd.
Important Upcoming Dates:
Friday, August 26 at 9am the canvassing board meets to review provisional ballots, signature cures, etc.
Tuesday, August 30 at 9:00am the canvassing board meets to certify OFFICIAL results.
Preliminary Election Results
32 of 32 precincts Reporting
146,765 Register Voters
37,832 Ballots Counted
25.78% Voter Turnout
19,600 Mailed Ballots
UNITED STATES SENATOR
Ricardo De La Fuente (DEM) 4.82% 559 Votes
Val Demings (DEM) 80.40% 9,328 Votes
Brian Rush (DEM) 8.27% 960 Votes
William Sanchez (DEM) 6.51% 755 Votes
Total Votes 11,602
Representative in Congress District 12
Gus Michael Bilirakis (REP)
74.55% 15,779 Votes
Chris Leiser (REP)
5.28% 1,117 Votes
Jack Martin (REP)
12.66% 2,680 Votes
Brian Perras (REP)
4.52% 957 Votes
Sid Preskitt (REP)
2.99% 633 Votes
Total Votes 21,166
Governor and Lieutenant Governor
Charlie Crist (DEM)
64.97% 7,631 Votes
Cadance Daniel (DEM)
2.61% 306 Votes
Nicole “Nikki” Fried (DEM)
30.14% 3,540 Votes
Robert L. Willis (DEM)
2.29% 269 Votes
Total Votes 11,746 Votes
Attorney General
Aramis Ayala (DEM)
38.76% 4,289 Votes
Jim Lewis (DEM)
32.00% 3,541 Votes
Daniel Uhlfelder (DEM)
29.24% 3,236 Votes
Total Votes 11,066
Commissioner of Agriculture
James W. Shaw (REP)
28.28% 5,947 Votes
Wilton Simpson (REP)
71.72% 15,082 Votes
21,029 Total Votes
Commissioner of Agriculture
Naomi Esther Blemur (DEM)
48.69% 5,333 Votes
J. R. Gaillot (DEM)
8.82% 2,061 Votes
Ryan Morales (DEM)
32.50% 3,560 Votes
10,954 Total Votes
State Representative District 52
Rock Daze (REP)
42.43% 2,194 Votes
John Temple (REP)
57.57% 2,977 Votes
5,171Total Votes
State Representative
District 53
Jeff Holcomb (REP)
83.00% 12,611Votes
Anthony Kocovic (REP)
17.00% 2,583 Votes
15,194 Total Votes
County Commissioner District 2
Mike Fulford (REP)
28.36% 5,958 Votes
Brian Hawkins (REP)
42.26% 8,877 Votes
April Johnson-Spence (REP)
29.38% 6,173 Votes
Total Votes 21,008
County Commissioner District 4
Anthony Joseph Arenz (REP)
29.15% 9,702 Votes
Jerry Campbell (REP)
70.85% 23,584 Votes
Total Votes 33,286
School Board District 1
Kay Hatch
34.91% 12,399 Votes
Mark C. Johnson
36.83% 13,082 Votes
Jenn Licata
28.25% 10,035 Votes
Total Votes 35,516
School Board District 3
Jimmy Lodato
39.36% 14,082 Votes
Shannon Rodriguez
60.64% 21,695 Votes
Total Votes 35,777
School Board District 5
Lara Dedmon
14.71% 5,210 Votes
Susan D. Duval
36.19% 12,818 Votes
Pam Everett
20.46% 7,247 Votes
Monty Floyd
28.64% 10,146 Votes
Total Votes 35,421
This article was updated with additional information on 8/24/2022 at 9:45 am.
