Pinellas WILD Primary Results

Pinellas Voted. Things Got Weird. Here’s What Happened.

Incumbents won. A former governor wants to be mayor. One School Board race basically came down to a rounding error. And only about 1 in 3 Pinellas voters bothered to participate.

Ahhh, democracy.

Pinellas County woke up Wednesday morning with some winners, some November rematches and at least one race close enough that the voting machines are getting an encore.

According to unofficial results from the Pinellas County Supervisor of Elections, only 114,086 voters participated — 18.85% turnout.

But for everyone who did vote, here's what happened.

Charlie Crist Is Back. Again.

If Florida politics were a TV series, Charlie Crist would be the character the writers simply refuse to kill off.

Governor.

Congressman.

Republican.

Independent.

Democrat.

Candidate for governor again.

And now?

Candidate for Mayor of St. Petersburg.

Crist finished first in St. Pete's six-person mayoral primary with about 35% of the vote, significantly ahead of incumbent Mayor Ken Welch, who finished second with about 20.5%.

Former St. Pete Fire Chief Jim Large wasn't far behind Welch at roughly 18%, with City Council member Brandi Gabbard around 17%.

But nobody cracked 50%.

So St. Pete gets a sequel:

Charlie Crist vs. Ken Welch — November 3.

Crist won Round 1 pretty convincingly.

Now we'll find out whether St. Pete voters actually want to give him the keys to City Hall.

Dave Eggers Basically Said, "I'll Keep the Seat."

There wasn't much suspense in the Republican primary for Pinellas County Commission District 4.

Incumbent Commissioner Dave Eggers pulled 78.54%, defeating challenger Anthony Ringelspaugh, who received 21.46%.

That's not exactly a photo finish.

That's more of a "thanks for coming" finish.

Eggers' victory effectively returns him to the County Commission because no other candidate qualified for the November election.

School Board District 2: Lisa Cane Stays

Incumbent Lisa Cane survived her challenge from Nancy Velardi and won another term representing District 2.

Cane received 55.01%, compared with Velardi's 44.99%.

In Florida School Board races, candidates who clear 50% in the primary win outright.

Cane did.

No November sequel required.

School Board District 3: See You in November

District 3 wasn't nearly as tidy.

Incumbent Dawn Peters finished first, but with three candidates in the race, nobody reached the 50% needed to win outright.

That means Peters and Curtis Campogni advance to the November election.

Translation:

You haven't seen the last School Board campaign sign yet.

Sorry.

School Board District 6: Okay, THIS Is Close

And then there's District 6.

Amanda Lord: roughly 49.8%.

Nancy Bostock: roughly 50.2%.

The difference is tiny enough that the race is headed for a machine recount.

This is the race you show your friend who says:

"My vote doesn't matter."

In this one?

Yeah.

It kinda freaking does.

Until the recount process is completed, we're not putting this race in anybody's win column.

The Judges Had a Night Too

Judicial races aren't usually the contests lighting up your group chat, but voters made some pretty decisive choices Tuesday.

For Pinellas County Judge Group 10, Nick Fiorentino defeated Zachariah Wade with 63.89% of the vote, 106,499 votes to 60,202.

And in the Sixth Judicial Circuit Group 39 race, Elizabeth Constantine cruised past Stefen Diskey, taking roughly 72.7%.

Judicial races may not generate campaign rallies with smoke machines and walk-up music.

But judges make decisions that can directly affect people's lives.

So, yeah.

Those little boxes near the bottom of your ballot matter too.

Leela Gray Gets Anna Paulina Luna

One of Pinellas County's biggest November matchups is officially set.

Retired Army Brigadier General Leela Gray easily won the Democratic primary for Florida's 13th Congressional District, taking roughly 65% of the vote.

Her prize?

She gets to run against incumbent Republican Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna in November.

That's going to be one of the higher-profile races in Pinellas County this fall.

Expect signs.

Expect commercials.

Expect mailers.

Expect your mailbox to beg for mercy sometime around mid-October.

And Then There's That 31.64%

Maybe the most interesting number from Tuesday wasn't attached to any candidate.

It was:

31.64%.

That's Pinellas County's unofficial voter turnout.

There were 605,325 eligible voters for the election.

Only 191,531 voted.

Think about that.

We will spend the next few months arguing about politicians, School Board members, property taxes, development, traffic, beach parking, the Rays, storm recovery, insurance and approximately 47 other things people are furious about on Facebook.

But when Pinellas actually handed voters a ballot?

More than two-thirds didn't cast one.

That's not a Republican observation.

It's not a Democratic observation.

It's math.

Pinellas Isn't Finished Yet

Tuesday settled some races.

It extended others.

And one School Board contest is literally going back through the machines.

But November 3 is the main event.

Crist vs. Welch.

Gray vs. Luna.

More School Board decisions.

County Commission races.

And plenty more.

So enjoy the brief break from political mailers.

They'll be back.

Probably before you finish reading this.

Covering and commenting on these races is not an endorsement of any candidate.