The numbers and election information reflected in this story are for Gadsden County votes only, as of 9 p.m. on Tuesday, November 3, and may not include the complete mail-in ballot vote percentages.
By 9 p.m. on November 3, the Gadsden County Elections Office had finalized the vote count for all early and Election Day votes but had not released a final report for mail-in ballot outcomes.
Percentages may not reflect statewide, district, or national percentages and vote outcomes.
When Gadsden County’s polls closed on the night Thursday, November 3, the race was on to count the final votes cast by local citizens for the presidential, congressional, senate, circuit judge, and several local seats.
At 8:12 p.m., the Gadsden County Elections Office released the finalized vote count for the county.
Leading the presidential race in Gadsden County is candidate Democrat candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden, with 67.86 percent of the vote, and Presidential incumbent Donald Trump at 31.37 percent.
The Gadsden County vote tallies for the other presidential candidates are: Jo Jorgensen (Libertarian): 0.40 percent; Roque “Rocky” De La Fuente (Reform Party): 0.03 percent; Gloria La Riva (Party for Socialism and Liberation): 0.04 percent; Howie Hawkins (Green Party): 0.09 percent; and Don Blankenship (Constitutional Party of Florida): 0.04 percent.
In Gadsden County, Democrat candidate and incumbent Al Lawson easily won over rival Republican candidate Gary Adler – Lawson claiming 70.93 percent of the vote compared to Adler’s 29.07 percent.
Likewise, Democratic candidate Loranne Ausley won Gadsden County voters over, with an overall percentage of 66.02, while rival Republican candidate Marva Harris Preston took 33.98 percent of the county’s vote.
In the Gadsden County Tax Collector race, incumbent W. Dale Summerford ran unopposed after his opponent, Cedric Russ, withdrew from the race and was represented only as a write-in. Summerford took in 99.07 percent of the votes, with the written-in candidate taking in only 0.93 percent.
It was a landslide victory in the race for Gadsden County Superintendent of Schools for Democrat candidate Elijah Key, who defeated his opponent, Richard Burns (NPA) with 77.70 percent of the votes. Burns, in comparison, took 22.30 percent of the vote.
Some of the races were landslide victories, while others were a litter tighter in the competition.
The seat for Gadsden County Commissioner District 3 has been held by Commissioner Gene Morgan (NPA) for several years.
This year, Morgan was opposed by Damion McNealy (NPA) and Kimblin E. NeSmith (Democrat).
Early on in the race, NeSmith gained on Morgan and while the race remained tight, it was eventually NeSmith who won the voters over, with a final total of 51.18 percent. Morgan received 39.15 percent and McNealy received 9.67 percent.
The Judge for the 2nd Judicial Circuit Court Judge was sought after by Tiffany Baker and Amanda P. Wall and it was Baker who was selected by the majority of voters in Gadsden County, as she received 69.17 percent of the Gadsden County vote and Wall received 30.83 percent of the vote.
District 1 (which includes the eastern portion of the county, such as Havana and Midway), will be represented by a new school board member within the Gadsden County School District. Candidate Cathy Johnson (a former Town of Havana councilmember) received the majority vote of 60.83 percent, winning the seat out from incumbent candidate Audrey Lewis, who received 39.62 percent of the overall vote.
Another tight race for a local Gadsden County governmental position was that of Soil and Water Seat 1, which was sought after by Sterling Lance Watson, Jr. and Rolland Steele.
As the vote tallies trickled in, it remained a toss-up between which of the two candidates would be voted in as the new seat-holder, but the final count of the night determined that Watson was the winner, with an overall 52.62 percent of the votes. Steele received 47.38 percent of the votes.
Gadsden voted an overall “yes” to retain Justice Carlos G. Muniz in the Florida Supreme Court. (65.24 percent yes-votes and 34.76 percent no-votes).
Gadsden voted an overall “yes” to retain Justice Joseph Lewis, Jr. in the Florida First District Court of Appeals (77.33 percent yes-votes and 26.67 percent no-votes).
Gadsden voted an overall “yes” to retain Justice Scott Makar in the Florida First District Court of Appeals (64.97 percent yes-votes and 35.03 percent no-votes).
Gadsden voted an overall “yes” to retain Justice Rachel Nordby in the Florida First District Court of Appeals (66.60 percent yes-votes and 33.40 percent no-votes).
Gadsden voted an overall “yes” to retain Justice Tim Osterhaus in the Florida First District Court of Appeals (63.86 percent yes-votes and 36.14 percent no-votes).
Gadsden voted an overall “yes” to retain Justice Clay Roberts in the Florida First District Court of Appeals (69.19 percent yes-votes and 30.81 percent no-votes).
Gadsden voted an overall “yes” to retain Justice Adam Tanenbaum in the Florida First District Court of Appeals (69.19 percent yes-votes and 30.81 percent no-votes).
With a total count of 31,152 registered voters in Gadsden County, and a recorded total of 23,943 ballots cast, Gadsden County experienced a massive wave of voters coming out in support of their voting rights.
According to the Gadsden County Supervisor of Elections Office, voter turnout was at 76.85 percent.
There are 22,462 Democrat-registered voters in Gadsden County, and 17,473 Democrat ballots were cast, meaning the county experienced just over 77 percent of a Democrat voter turnout.
With 5,414 registered Republicans in Gadsden County and 4,499 Republican ballots cast, just over 83 percent of the county’s Republicans voted in this election.
There were 1,807 No-Party-Affiliation (NPA) ballots cast and 164 ballots belonging to voters in other parties.
The largest number of ballots were submitted by early voters, with 10,466 ballots cast in the early voting portion of the election.
7,682 votes were cast as mail-in ballots, 11 votes as provisional ballots, and 5,784 votes were cast in-person on November 3, Election Day.
Ashley Hunter – editor@prioritynews.net