{"id":446486,"date":"2026-11-03T21:32:31","date_gmt":"2026-11-03T21:32:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/446486\/"},"modified":"2026-11-03T21:32:31","modified_gmt":"2026-11-03T21:32:31","slug":"election-2026-live-updates-results-as-tallahassee-voters-take-control","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/446486\/","title":{"rendered":"Election 2026: Live updates, results as Tallahassee voters take control"},"content":{"rendered":"

From Tallahassee City Hall to the Governor’s Mansion<\/a>, Florida voters are choosing new leaders and deciding the direction of state and local government. The Nov. 3 ballot features contests for all statewide offices, along with congressional and legislative races and three proposed amendments to the Florida Constitution.<\/p>\n

In Tallahassee, voters will decide on three City Commission races, including the leadership mayor’s role, that could break the long 3-2 voting divide<\/a> that has gripped City Hall for the last few years. And the governor’s race will make history<\/a> with voters either electing the state’s first Black governor (Republican Byron Donalds) or putting a Democrat (David Jolly) back into the Governor’s Mansion for the first time in nearly three decades.<\/p>\n

Amendment 3<\/a> is on the statewide ballot, which will determine whether Florida enacts sweeping changes to its property-tax system. Leon County voters have consequential choices of their own<\/a>, including a series of charter questions; one asks voters whether they favor consolidating the governments of Leon County and city of Tallahassee.<\/p>\n

Vote with confidence: Ultimate Election Day voter guide to the Tallahassee, Florida election<\/a><\/p>\n

Follow the Tallahassee Democrat’s Election Day live blog for the latest from polling places, turnout and voting developments, reaction from the campaigns and, once the polls close, results from Tallahassee and Leon County and the biggest races across Florida.<\/p>\n

Could we see record turnout as Dems dwarf GOP votes in Leon County?<\/p>\n

04:05 PM ET, November 3 2026, Jeff Burlew<\/p>\n

As of 3:45 p.m., 109,836 out of 184,523 registered voters have cast ballots, pushing overall turnout to 59.52% with several hours left until the polls close at 7 p.m. That turnout is already higher than Leon County midterms in 2022 and 2014.<\/p>\n

Democrats are outperforming Republicans, though the gap between them closed in election day voting. Democrats, who make up 47.8% of voters, have 53.3% of the vote share. Republicans, who make up 29.6% of voters, have 28.5% of the vote share.<\/p>\n

By that measure, Democrats are overperforming by +5.5 percentage points while Republicans are underperforming by -1.1 percentage points.<\/p>\n

Voters with no party affiliation and members of minor parties make up 22.6% of voters and have 18.1% of the vote share, putting their performance underwater by -4.5 percentage points.<\/p>\n

In 2018, total voter turnout in Leon County surpassed 65 percent, a 24-year high for a midterm. That year, voters showed up in record numbers during almost two weeks of early voting. And on Election Day, a steady stream of people buzzed in and out of precincts casting their vote for Florida governor, Tallahassee mayor and a slew of other state and local candidates, and amendments.<\/p>\n

In Florida, what triggers a recount?<\/p>\n

03:52 PM ET, November 3 2026, Jim Rosica<\/p>\n

It’s always possible that some races are tight enough by the end of the evening, a recount will be required.<\/p>\n

In Florida, a race within one-half of one percent (0.5%) triggers an automatic machine recount. After that, if the margin is 0.25% or less, elections officials manually review overvotes and undervotes that could affect the outcome.<\/p>\n

\"Judge<\/p>\n

Judge Robert Rosenberg of the Broward County Canvassing Board uses a magnifying glass to examine a dimpled chad on a punch card ballot, Nov. 24, 2000, during a vote recount in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. (File photo)<\/p>\n

An overvote is when a voter selects too many choices in a race, so no vote counts. On a paper ballot, that can include when a voter changes her or his mind, puts an “X” through an already filled-in bubble, and darkens a bubble for another choice.<\/p>\n

An undervote happens when the voter selects no choice in a given race. But it could also include a voter putting a checkmark next to a name or circling a name, for instance, instead of filling in a bubble.<\/p>\n

Ghazvini vs. Matlow in final feud for City Hall<\/p>\n

03:43 PM ET, November 3 2026, Jim Rosica<\/p>\n

\"Tallahassee<\/p>\n

Tallahassee developer Steve Ghazvini, left, and mayoral candidate Jeremy Matlow<\/p>\n

The Democrat’s Jeff Burlew reports:<\/p>\n

On the final day before the Tuesday, Nov. 3 election, one of Tallahassee’s most prominent developers, Steve Ghazvini, and City Commissioner Jeremy Matlow continued to spar over a private meeting<\/a> they had last year shortly after he filed to run for mayor.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, electronic road construction signs funded by a Ghazvini company in support of City Commissioner Dianne Williams-Cox once again began flashing messages urging people to “vote for” her, though this time they have the required legal disclaimer saying who paid for them.<\/p>\n

Read the rest of the story here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

What time do polls close in Florida?<\/p>\n

03:38 PM ET, November 3 2026, Jim Rosica<\/p>\n

Polls in Leon County are open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Eastern time on Election Day. In the August primary, Leon County began posting initial results shortly after polls closed at 7 p.m.<\/p>\n

But Florida spans two time zones, so statewide races won’t be fully closed until 8 p.m. Eastern, when polls close in the Central Time counties of the Panhandle.<\/p>\n

Expect Leon County and other Eastern Time results to begin coming in after 7 p.m., with the statewide picture starting to take shape after 8 p.m.<\/p>\n

Who’s watching results where<\/p>\n

03:30 PM ET, November 3 2026, Jim Rosica<\/p>\n

Candidates across Tallahassee and Leon County will gather with supporters Tuesday evening as the results roll in. Here’s where candidates in some of the area’s biggest local, state and congressional races plan to spend Election Night on Nov. 3. This list may be updated as more watch-party information becomes available.<\/p>\n

Tallahassee mayor<\/p>\n

Loranne Ausley: The Monroe, 1327 S. Monroe St., starting at 7 p.m.<\/p>\n

Jeremy Matlow: Proof Brewing Co., 1320 S. Monroe St., starting at 6 p.m.<\/p>\n

Tallahassee City Commission, Seat 3<\/p>\n

P.J. Perez: Proof Brewing, starting at 6 p.m.<\/p>\n

Tom Derzypolski: Will watch the results from home, beginning at 7:30 p.m.<\/p>\n

Tallahassee City Commission, Seat 5<\/p>\n

Dianne Williams-Cox: Tallahassee Nights Live, 1533 S. Monroe St., starting at 7 p.m.<\/p>\n

Dot Inman-Johnson: Proof Brewing, starting at 6 p.m.<\/p>\n

Leon County Commission, District 3<\/p>\n

C.B. Lorch: Plans to watch the results from his home, beginning at 6 p.m.<\/p>\n

Rick Minor: Bar @ Betton, 1950 Thomasville Road, starting at 7 p.m.<\/p>\n

Leon County Commission, District 5<\/p>\n

David Hawkins: Plans to watch the results from home.<\/p>\n

David O’Keefe: Proof Brewing, starting at 6 p.m.<\/p>\n

Florida House District 9<\/p>\n

Allison Tant: Ology Brewing, 2910 Kerry Forest Parkway, starting at 7 p.m.<\/p>\n

Tracy Robinson: Did not respond to a request for information.<\/p>\n

U.S. House District 2<\/p>\n

Amanda Marie Green: Miccosukee Land Coop Community Center, starting at 6 p.m.<\/p>\n

Austin Rogers: Hotel Indigo, 7 Harrison Ave. in Panama City, starting at 7 p.m. (Central time).<\/p>\n

DeSantis: ‘Politics is a lot about atmospherics’<\/p>\n

03:23 PM ET, November 3 2026, Jim Rosica<\/p>\n

While some in the GOP were having electoral anxiety on Nov. 3, outgoing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis was a bit more sanguine about Republicans’ chances.<\/p>\n

\"Florida<\/p>\n

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis greets US President Donald Trump as he arrives at Southwest Florida International Airport in Fort Myers, Florida, US, October 23, 2026. REUTERS\/Umit Bektas<\/p>\n

“If people want to get a sense of what’s going to happen throughout the rest of the country,” look at Florida tonight, said DeSantis, speaking at the Institute For Legal Reform’s annual summit in Washington, D.C. “Our election day vote is a little bit more Republican, and so it may even be scary when they’re putting up those early votes and mail votes, but I would anticipate for our top of the ticket races in Florida to be competitive from everything I’ve seen.”<\/p>\n

“Politics is a lot about atmospherics, right?” he went on. “Four years ago when I’m running, Biden was falling on his face, he was unpopular. Democrats were demoralized because of that. In Florida, they knew they weren’t going to beat me. And so their turnout was low. (The GOP’s) was through the roof. We had the momentum … Now if you look, Democrats are energized. They already eclipsed what they did in Florida four years ago with turnout, by like 7:30 this morning. So they’re going to have a much higher turnout than they did.”<\/p>\n

But Democratic candidates are “not making great arguments. They’re on the defense,” DeSantis said. “… I think you’ll know, when you see Florida’s initial results, whether Democrats have a chance in Texas, Kansas, or some of these other states, because (Trump) won Florida by 13 (points), and he won all those states by 13.”<\/p>\n

Can you still vote if you forget your ID?<\/p>\n

03:16 PM ET, November 3 2026, Cheryl McCloud<\/p>\n

If you forget to bring an acceptable form of identification with you when you go to vote in Florida, you can still vote using a provisional ballot.<\/a><\/p>\n

Provisional ballots are also used when a registered Florida voter moved from another county and did not update their address with the elections office, or they are in the wrong precinct.<\/p>\n

If you’re given a provisional ballot, the ballot is placed in a secure envelope to be delivered to the Supervisor of Elections Office, where it’s reviewed for eligibility by a canvassing board.<\/p>\n

Read the rest of the story here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Election 2026: Live updates, results as Tallahassee voters take control<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"From Tallahassee City Hall to the Governor’s Mansion, Florida voters are choosing new leaders and deciding the direction…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":446487,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[232,234,233],"class_list":["post-446486","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tallahassee","tag-tallahassee","tag-tallahassee-headlines","tag-tallahassee-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/446486","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=446486"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/446486\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/446487"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=446486"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=446486"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=446486"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}