Voters in Florida are picking their party’s candidates for governor, Senate and a number of U.S. House seats after redistricting.
Transcript
MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
To Florida, where polls have now closed – Florida is one of three states holding primary elections today. Voters are picking their party’s candidates for governor and for the Senate and for House seats that could determine who controls Congress after the midterms. Reporter Catherine Welch has been following the races. She is with us now live from Orlando. Hey, Catherine.
CATHERINE WELCH, BYLINE: Hi.
KELLY: Let’s lead with a result in one of the House races you have been following. This is Congressman Debbie Wasserman Schultz. She won her primary. But this is a new district, and that has some big implications – like what?
WELCH: Yes. So she won in a district that she had to jump into after the Republican-led legislature redrew congressional maps this year, and they made her old district more competitive. Now, this district, it cuts through Broward and Palm Beach Counties. It belonged to former Democratic Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick. She was one of four Black candidates running for office in this district, which has a long history of sending Black candidates to Congress. But Wasserman Schultz is well known. She’s a longtime political player, and winning this primary shows the impact that these new maps in Florida have – right? – ’cause tonight it eliminated the chance to send one more Black representative to Washington. Now, we also have another result from the AP in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate. Progressive candidate Angie Nixon beat retired Army Lieutenant Colonel Alex Vindman. That’s another win for the progressive wing of the Democratic Party in this primary season.
KELLY: Another closely watched race, the 7th District – 7th District stretches across Central Florida, and that was incumbent Republican Cory Mills’ seat. Cory Mills, though, has been under a House investigation. He had a strong challenger. Do we know where that has landed?
WELCH: We do. We know that The Associated Press has called the race, and Mills lost. You know, Mills was vulnerable due to this House Ethics Committee investigation into allegations of assaulting a former girlfriend and violating campaign finance laws. NPR did reach out to his office for a response to those allegations, and we didn’t hear back. But he has previously denied any wrongdoing. And the AP says he lost his seat to Ryan Elijah.
KELLY: Let me flip you to the governor’s race, where Republican Ron DeSantis cannot run again. He’s term-limited after two terms in office. Who’s going to be on the ballot to replace him come November?
WELCH: Well, there’s not a lot of surprises here, Mary Louise. The Associated Press has called the Republican primary for Congressman Byron Donalds. He was the favorite in this crowd of 11 candidates. Trump supported him, and, you know, if Donalds wins in November, he could be Florida’s first Black governor. Now, in the Democratic race, also no surprises – former Congressman David Jolly won his primary, according to the AP. Jolly was a Republican during his time in Congress. He then became an independent and then made the switch last year to Democrat.
KELLY: Oh, that’s interesting. I’m wondering about the impact because Florida hasn’t had a Democrat as governor in forever – like, at least decades. Can this switch, Republican to Democrat – will that possibly open the way to changing it?
WELCH: Maybe. There is some precedent in this state for a party switcher to win an election. So, you know, in November, the independents get to chime in. This was kind of a closed primary where you had to be a Republican or Democrat registered to vote. So we’ll see what these independents have to say come November.
KELLY: That’s Catherine Welch, reporter in Orlando, Florida. Thank you for your reporting tonight.
WELCH: Thank you for having me.
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