Florida Primary Results

Florida Governor
Attorney General Charlie Crist (R) was the easy victor in the Republican primary, garnering 64% of the votes. His opponent will be Congressman Jim Davis, III (D), who failed to reach the magical 50% mark in securing the nomination. He ended up with 47.4%, compared to 41.1% for Rod Smith, his nearest competitor. This should be an interesting race in November.

Florida Senate
The marquee race of the night was the Republican Senate primary, and Congressman Katherine Harris won, as expected. She received 49.4% of the vote, with Will McBride picking up just 30% as her nearest competitor. Florida Republicans should be embarrassed for voting for this train-wreck of a candidate (and candidacy), and this result virtually guarantees that Senator Bill Nelson (D), who was unopposed in the primary, will sail to re-election in November.

Florida CD 5
John T. Russell (D) picked up the nomination by securing 48.8% of the vote, with Rick Penberthy (who I had declared the favorite based on scant evidence) picking up 39%. Russell will face Congressman Virginia Brown-Waite (R) in November.

Florida CD 8
Congressman Ric Keller (R) faced a surprisingly vigorous primary challenge from the supremely under-funded Elizabeth Doran (he had a staggering 25-1 edge in money raised, although he probably didn't spend much of it on the primary), winning the battle 72.5%-27.5%. His opponent will be Charlie Stuart, who picked up 47.7% to beat out 2 challengers.

Florida CD 9
Gus Bilirakis (R) picked up 82% of the vote in securing the nomination to try to replace his father, who is retiring, in this district. His opponenent will be Phyllis Busansky (D), who is well-funded and should put up a solid fight.

Florida CD 11
Kathy Castor (D) picked up 53.9% of the vote on her way to securing the nomination, not bad since she was facing 4 opponents. Castor is trying to replace newly minted Democratic Gubernatorial candidate Jim Davis, III in this district. Her opponent in November will be Eddie Adams, Jr. (R), who appears to be highly underfunded and very likely to lose.

Florida CD 13
The race to replace Republican Senate candidate Katherine Harris (R) in this district was highly unsettled, and Vern Buchanan won a wild 5-way race with just 32.3% of the vote. Proving that money doesn't guarantee results, George Hudson raised well over $1 million (far less than Buchanan's $3.8 million, by the way), but couldn't even finish second; that honor went to Nancy Detert with 24.4%. Hudson picked up 24%, if you were curious. With the Republicans in such disarray, the Democrats were relatively united in picking Christine Jennings, giving her 61.8% of the vote.

Florida CD 15
In a close race, Bob Bowman (D) beat out John M. Kennedy 54.5%-45.5%, and will face Congressman Dave Weldon (R) in November.

Florida CD 17
Congressman Kendrick Meek (D) easily won his primary, picking up 89% of the vote. Since the Republicans have no one running in November, Meek just won himself another term.

Florida CD 24
In another race that proves money doesn't mean everything, Democrats nominated Clint Curtis over Andy Michaud by a total of 61.2%-38.8%, despite Michaud's big edge in money ($175K to $25K). Curtis now has a much bigger challenge, however, as he has to face Congressman Tom Feeney (R) in November. Feeney will win easily, unless Curtis really is some kind of dragon-slayer; that seems rather unlikely.