ST. LUCIE COUNTY – While there were surprises across the state at the conclusion of the 2026 Primary Election held Aug. 18, Florida voters’ reputation of bucking the national trend of automatically reelecting incumbents proved true in several local races.

One of the only two candidates assured victory last night was current Port St. Lucie Planning & Zoning Board Chairman Jim Norton, who will assume the Port St. Lucie District 3 Council Seat being vacated by Anthony Bonna, who is resigning to run for the Florida House District 85 seat.

Rep. Toby Overdorf, R-Palm City himself is vacating that position to make a bid for the Florida Senate in 2028.

Norton received 52.26 percent of the total 37,056 votes cast in that race according to official results posted by the St. Lucie County Supervisor or Elections, while the other two candidates, Fritz Masson-Alexandre and Peter D. Overhuls, received 24.89 percent and 22.85, respectively.

Since there was no primary for either Republican Candidate Bonna or the sole Democratic Candidate Wayne Richter in the District 85 seat, both now advance to the Nov. 3 General Election.

For the city’s District 1 City Council Seat being vacated by Councilwoman Stephanie Morgan who chose not to seek reelection after completing a decade on the Board, Candidate Rick Meltzer got 42.02 percent of the total 37,196 votes.

He was followed by Indony P. Jean Baptiste with 22.13 percent and Eric Reikenis and Kevin Zimmerman, who received 5,591 votes and 7,744 votes, respectively.

Because neither candidate got the 50 percent-plus-one vote required by Florida statute in non-partisan races, Meltzer and Baptiste now head to a runoff election in November.

In the Port St. Lucie Mayoral Primary Race, current Mayor Shannon Martin did prove her incumbent advantage with 47.71 percent of the total 39,247 votes cast against Challengers Steven Giordano and Eric Reikenis, who received 15,629 and 7,744 votes, respectively. Martin and Giordano now head to a Nov. 3 runoff election.

In the Democratic Primary Race for the District 4 County Commission Seat, Jean Eddy Leroy got 50.66 percent of the 20,898 votes cast, while Candidate Roger N. Messer received 49.34 percent. Leroy now faces Incumbent and current Chairwoman Jamie Lee Fowler and Candidate Nicholas Burgos – who is running with no party affiliation – on Nov. 3.

In the non-partisan St. Lucie County School District races, Incumbent Debbie Johnson Hawley was the other winning candidate last night, retaining her District 1 seat with 55.00 percent of the total 53,520 votes cast against Challenger Brian K. Capp, who received 24,082 votes.

In the District 5 seat race, Challenger Lisa Kessler got 37.54 percent of the 53,295 total votes cast. Incumbent Troy Ingersoll – who’s completing a decade on the Board – received 37.24 percent, while Charles V. Cerami, got 25.22 percent. Ingersoll and Kessler now head to a runoff in November.

This year the City Commission of Fort Pierce did not hold a Primary Election because no challenging candidates qualified to run against either Commissioner Michael Broderick or Commissioner Arnold Gaines, who are both up for reelection. The City Charters allows them to both re-assume their respective offices during the second regular meeting after the Nov. 3 election.

For the Florida governor and lieutenant governor races, Byron Donalds and Jay Collins topped the crowded field of 11 candidates in the Republican Primary, with Donalds getting 53.41 percent of the local votes cast and Collins receiving 23.06 percent. In the Democratic Primary, David Jolly topped the field of six Democratic candidates, getting 56.19 percent of the total votes. His closest challenger, Dayna Marie Foster, received 15.39 percent of the vote. Donalds will will now face Jolly on Nov 3.

In the Democratic Primary race for the U.S. Senator Seat vacated by Marco Rubio when he was appointed by President Donald Trump to be secretary of state, Angie Nixon defeated Alexander Vindman with 54.50 percent of the total 22,310 local votes cast. In the Republican Primary for that seat, Ashley Moody got 79.77 percent of the local votes cast for the four candidates, while Chris Gleason got 14.72 percent of the remaining votes. Ashley will now face Nixon in November for the final two years of Rubio’s term.

As far as the Florida District 21 Democratic Primary Race, Bernard Taylor got 55.56 percent of the total 21,862 votes cast, with James T. Martin getting 44.4 percent. Martin, however, won the state overall and will now face Incumbent Republican Candidate Bryan Mast on Nov. 3.

According to the Ballotpedia Website that has analyzed statewide races nationally for the last three years, the incumbency reelection rate remained at 90 percent or higher in all but the 11 states of Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Kansas, Maine, Minnesota, North Carolina, Ohio, Texas, Virginia and Washington. The State of Florida, however, had the lowest victory rate of incumbents nationally, with only 63 percent of incumbents successfully being reelected during the same time period.