Several local House district races were essentially settled in Tuesday's primary or before.
Published on August 23, 2022 at 10:53 pm
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Two Jacksonville City Council members fell short in their bids to springboard to seats in the state Legislature in Tuesday’s primaries, while other candidates for the statehouse punched their tickets to Tallahassee.
Voters chose former state lawmaker Kimberly Daniels over Jax Councilman Garrett Dennis in the Democratic primary for state House District 14 by a 47% to 33% margin, while Councilman Reggie Gaffney lost to state Rep. Tracie Davis by an even wider margin — 68% 32% — in the Democratic primary for state Senate District 5.
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Daniels is the presumptive winner for the D14 seat, as that race drew no Republican candidates. Davis will face Republican Binod Kumar in the Nov. 8 general election.
In other state legislative races, first-time Republican candidate, self-described “angel mom” Kiyan Michael won a three-candidate primary in House District 16 comfortably over two experienced candidates — Jacksonville Beach City Councilman Chet Stokes and former House member and Jax Councilman Lake Ray. A possible difference-maker: Michael drew Gov. Ron DeSantis’ endorsement. She also effectively won the seat with her primary victory. No Democrats filed in the district, and the only other candidate is a write-in.
In House District 15, which covers parts of Duval County and all of Nassau, Duval County GOP Chair Dean Black cruised to a victory over Emily Nunez. The race drew no Democrats and one write-in, meaning Black is highly likely also on his way to Tallahassee.
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Florida Rep. Angie Nixon easily won Duval County’s House District 13 Democratic primary over Delaine Smith and will face unaffiliated candidate LaCiara Masline in November. Republican Jessica Baker won her primary over Christina Meredith in House District 17 and will vie against Democrat Michael Anderson in the general election.
