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These Are The Winners of County Primary Races From Hernando to Columbia Counties

Editor's note: The following are Aug. 30 primary results. The Nov. 8 general election results are here.

Outside of Alachua and Marion counties' primary races, voters on Tuesday chose candidates for dozens of other county-level seats. Here's a round-up. Click the county name for full official results from each supervisor of elections:

Bradford County (6,415 ballots cast/41 percent turnout)

Republican Frank Durance will go on to face Democrat Eddie Lewis for District 5 county commissioner. Durance secured his spot with 53 percent of the vote. Democrat Ross Chandler received 56 percent of the vote for District 1 county commissioner. For District 2 school board, Cheryl Goodwin Canova received 74 percent of the vote over Robbie Best. For District 4 school board, Vivian Chappell received 702 votes to Elbert E. Hersey’s 693.

Citrus County (turnout data not reported)

Republican Michael Prendergast received more than 53 percent of the vote for sheriff. For County Commissioner in District 1, Jeff Kinnard received more than 70 percent of the vote against Rhonda Distel. Brian J. Coleman received more than 55 percent of the vote for County Commissioner in District 5. For school board in District 4, Sandy B. Counts received more than 47 percent of the vote against Bill Murray and Kevin Maloney. The school board sales surtax received more than 54 percent votes against.

Columbia County (turnout data not reported)

Lex Carswell received about 50 percent of the vote for schools superintendent. For District 5 county commissioner, Tim Murphy received about 47 percent of the vote. For District 4 school board member, Keith Hudson received 1,496 votes over Michael Jenkins, who received 632 votes. In the Lake City mayoral election, Stephen Witt received more than 60 percent of the vote.

Dixie County (3,057 ballots cast/32 percent turnout)

After all 10 precincts finalized their results, Patrick Bell took the school board District 1 seat with 44 percent of the vote. Opponents Crystal Bush and Mandi Malone Medlin took 36 percent and 20 percent respectively.

Gilchrist County (turnout data not reported)

Susan Owens and Gina Geiger won both school board member seats. Owens, who ran for District 2, won 54 percent of the vote while opponent Don Thomas came away with 46 percent of the vote. In the District 4 school board race, Geiger took 55.20 percent of the vote beating her opponent Julie Thomas who only took 44.80% of the vote.

Hernando County (29,326 ballots cast/23 percent turnout)

Republican Nick Nicholson took the race for District 1 county commissioner with 38 percent of the vote. Nicholson narrowly beat opponents Michael LaRocca and Joe Swilley. For the District 5 county commissioner, Steve Champion won the race with 54 percent of the vote while Dave Russell finished at 46 percent. For District 2's school board seat, Linda Prescott won with 59 percent of the vote while opponents Steven Van Gorden and Mario Littman had 21 and 20 percent, respectively. Gus Guadagnino took the race for school board District 4 with 42 percent of the vote. Opponent William J. Vonada had 31 and Michael Angelo Gordon won 26 percent of the vote.

Lafayette County (2,302 ballots cast/52 percent turnout)

Brian Lamb earned a resounding win with 82 percent of the votes for sheriff. Robby Edwards was voted superintendent of schools with 58 percent of the votes. Lance Lamb received 63 percent of the votes for county commissioner District 1, and Lisa Walker won county commissioner District 3 with 39 percent of the votes. With 56 percent of the votes, Amanda Tidwell Hickman was voted onto the school board's District 4 seat.

Levy County (8,132 ballots cast/31 percent turnout)

Republican Jeff Edison, with 59 percent of the vote, won the primary for superintendent of schools, defeating fellow Republican Jerry Lawrence. Incumbent Republican John Meeks captured 68 percent of votes cast to win the county commissioner primary for District 1. The county commissioner primary races for District 3 and 5 were won by Republicans Mike Joyner (61 percent) and Matt Brooks (59 percent).

Putnam County (13,759 ballots cast/29 percent turnout)

Putnam County’s Republican candidate for sheriff is John Kinney with 39 percent of the votes. The Democratic sheriff candidate is Gator Deloach with 47 percent of the votes. Phyllis Criswell received 68 percent for superintendent of schools. County commissioner for District 1 went to Bill Pickens with 71 percent. Walton Pellicer won county commissioner for District 5 with 51 percent of the vote. The school board position for District 2 went to David Buckles with 60 percent. Sandra “Sandy” Gilyard came out ahead in the school board District 3 race with 52 percent.

Suwannee County (9,027 ballots cast/34 percent turnout)

Republican Buddy Williams III (50 percent) and Democrat Sam St. John (73.29 percent) will face off for the sheriff’s position in the general election. Republicans John Rothenberger (56 percent) and Ricky Gamble (75 percent) won their party’s primaries for District 1 and 3 county commissioner positions, respectively. Republican Ronnie Richardson (55 percent) and Democrat Christopher Furst (70 percent) won the District 5 county commissioner primary races. Primary winners for school board in District 2 and District 3, respectively: Catherine Cason (63 percent) and Tim Alcorn (55 percent).

Union County (2,383 ballots cast/33 percent turnout)

The race for the District 4 county commissioner position came down to one vote, as Democrat Chuck Clyatt (123 votes) edged out Democrat Kriss Simmons (122 votes) to win the primary. Democrat Eric Hall won the primary for District 3 county commissioner with 65 percent of the vote. Randall A. Griffis (46 percent) and Becky Raulerson (62 percent) won the District 2 and 4 primaries for school board.

Madison Belfour is a reporter for WUFT News and can be reached at 352-392-6397 or mbelfour@ufl.edu.
Kyle is a reporter for WUFT News. He can be reached at news@wuft.org or 352-392-6397.
Yvonne Bertovich is a junior studying journalism at the University of Florida. She is currently the office manager for the Florida Scholastic Press Association, an editorial intern for Atlantic Publishing, and a WUFT News digital reporter/editor.
Nina Rodriguez is a reporter for WUFT news and can be reached at 352-392-6397 or nina.rodriguez@ufl.edu.