Welcome to the 2022 elections! We’re kicking off the year with election results for a Congressional race in Florida, as well as special elections for six state legislative seats across four states. Make sure you sign up for our newsletter on the right side of this page to stay up to date on all the races to come in what is guaranteed to be a memorable midterm year.
Florida’s 20th Congressional District
The Congressional seat in Florida’s 20th became vacant back in April following the death of Democrat Alcee Hastings who had represented the district since 1993. The Democratic primary for this district gave us perhaps the closest race of 2021. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick won the nomination over second-place finisher Dale Holness by just five votes after a recount and court challenges. The general election will likely not be as close as the district, which covers much of Broward and Palm Beach Counties, is a safe Democratic district. Running against Cherfilus-McCormick is Republican Jason Mariner who also emerged from a contentious November 2 primary. Also running on the ballot are a Libertarian candidate and two candidates with no party affiliation. We will have the election results below once polls close at 7 p.m. (EST)
Florida State Legislature
There are also three vacant seats in the Florida Legislature with primaries today. All three vacancies were caused by resignations so the former incumbents could run for the vacant Congressional seat in the 20th District, which is a requirement under Florida law. All three were Democrats, although none of them advanced to today’s general from the primary. The three seats open are the 33rd State Senate District in Broward County, covering part of Fort Lauderdale and many of the communities north of the city; State House District 88 in Palm Beach County, which is a thin coastline district running from Palm Beach Gardens down to Delray Beach; and State House District 94 also in Broward County, and also covers part of Fort Lauderdale and some of the communities to the north. All three contests are Democratic primaries, however, the race for State House District 94 is a universal Democratic primary. This is because no Republican filed to run in the 94th District so voters from any party get to vote in the Democratic primary and the winner will take office without having to run in a general election. The winners of the other two races will move on to a March 8 general election to face the lone Republicans that filed in each of those districts. We will have the election results below once polls close at 7 p.m. (EST)
Virginia House of Delegates 89th
Didn’t we just do this one? The answer is yes, yes we did. After winning reelection back in November, Jay Jones resigned from his seat in the House of Delegates citing a desire to spend more time with his family which is expecting their first child. In his resignation, he teased a possible future run for Attorney General in 2025 (he unsuccessfully primaried his party’s then incumbent Mark Herring in 2021). The 89th District is one of five House of Delegate districts in Norfolk, the only one that lies completely within the city limits. Candidates for the vacant seat were chosen by the parties through firehouse primaries. Democrats chose Jackie Glass, a Navy veteran who unsuccessfully ran in the special election for Norfolk City Council Superward 7 back in November. Republicans went with Giovanni Dolmo, who is also a Navy veteran and currently a local pastor in Norfolk. With the Virginia General Assembly starting session tomorrow and a very narrow split between the parties, the winner will have to get right to work. We will have the election results below once polls close at 7 p.m. (EST)
Maine State House of Representatives 27th
We also have a special election in the Pine Tree State today. State House District 27 is vacant after Kyle Bailey resigned to pursue another professional opportunity. The 27th District covers the eastern half of Gorham and the northwest corner of Scarborough in Cumberland County. Candidates for this race were nominated by local party committees. Democrats chose former State Senator James Boyle while the Republicans nominated retired Marine Colonial Timothy Thorsen. Gorham Town Council member Suzanne Phillips also filed to run as an unenrolled candidate and will appear on the ballot. We will have the election results below once polls close at 8 p.m. (EST)
Arkansas State Senate 7th Republican Primary Runoff
The final contest we are watching today is a primary runoff in Arkansas’ 7th State Senate District. The district covers northeastern Washington County including most of Springdale and the outskirts of Fayetteville. The seat became vacant after Republican Lance Eads resigned to take a position with Capitol Consulting Firm, a Little-Rock based lobbying group. In the December 14 primary to nominate a replacement, no Republican was able to achieve a 50%+1 majority of the vote. Colby Fulfer, who is currently the chief of staff to the mayor of Springdale, and Steve Unger, a retired U.S. Navy captain from Springdale, were the top two finishers in that contest and advanced to today’s runoff. The winner will face Lisa Parks, an attorney from Tontitown, who advanced from the two-candidate Democratic primary. The general election will take place on February 8. We will have the election results below once polls close at 7:30 p.m. (CST)