Aug. 28 primary results: Arizona and Florida

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Key races to watch as Florida, Arizona voters head to polls

Former pollster for the Trump campaign Jim McLaughlin examines Tuesday's primary races.

With the pivotal midterm elections just a few months away, all eyes were on the sunbelt Tuesday as voters headed to the polls in Arizona and Florida.

Arizona

Gubernatorial primary results:

Republican Gov. Doug Ducey defeated former Secretary of State Ken Bennett, earning 69.9 percent of the votes compared to Bennett’s 30.1 percent in Tuesday’s primary.

Education professor and military veteran David Garcia bested fellow Democratic challengers state Sen. Steve Farley and former CEO of the YWCA Southern Arizona Kelly Fryer, to secure his party’s nomination.

Both Ducey and Garcia announced they will suspend campaign gatherings later in the week to pay respects to Arizona Sen. John McCain, who died on Saturday after a yearlong battle with brain cancer.

GOP Primary – Doug Ducey         Votes: 342,868       Vote Percentage: 70.5%

Dem Primary – David Garcia        Votes: 185,449       Vote Percentage: 49.2%         

U.S. Senate primary results:

Rep. Martha McSally defeated former State Senator Kelli Ward and former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio to advance to the November election as the Republican nominee.

McSally will face Democratic challenger Rep. Kyrsten Sinema to decide who will replace the seat vacated by retiring Sen. Jeff Flake, in what is expected to be a tough election for the GOP.

Rep. Martha McSally won the Republican primary on Tuesday for U.S. Senate in Arizona. (AP)

Gov. Ducey said he would nominate a replacement for McCain after the late Senator’s funeral on Thursday.

GOP Primary – Martha McSally     Votes: 256,115                    Vote Percentage: 52.7%

Dem Primary – Kyrsten Sinema     Votes: 306,593                   Vote Percentage: 80.6 %

U.S. House of Representatives

There are two open seats up for grabs in Arizona that Democrats are looking to win as they try to regain control of the House in November.

Republican Lea Marquez Peterson, CEO of the Tucson Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, earned her party’s nomination and will face former Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick, who beat out a handful of candidates in a competitive Democratic primary.

The two candidates are vying for a seat in Arizona’s 2nd District, which was vacated by McSally who earned a GOP bid for Senate on Tuesday.

Former Navy chief medical officer Stephen Ferrara won the Republican nomination in state’s 9th Congressional District, and will face Greg Stanton, who was unchallenged. The seat was vacated by Rep. Kyrsten Sinema, who won the Democratic Senate primary.

Arizona had a handful of other Congressional races as well:

District 1: Dem Primary – Tom O’Halleran    Votes: 48,672        Vote Percentage: 100%  

GOP Primary -   Wendy Rogers      Votes: 23,089        Vote Percentage: 43.36%

District 2: Dem Primary – Ann Kirkpatrick                  Votes: 28,046      Vote Percentage: 41.4%

      GOP Primary – Lea Marquez Peterson      Votes: 20,153      Vote Percentage: 33.6 %

District 3: Dem Primary – Raúl Grijalva                  Votes: 15,781        Vote Percentage: 100%

GOP Primary – Nicolas “Nick” Person   Votes: 10,409       Vote Percentage: 51.1%

District 4: Dem Primary – David Brill   Votes: 15,467          Vote Percentage: 52.9%

GOP Primary – Paul Gosar    Votes: 74,670        Vote Percentage: 100%

GRN Primary – Gregor Knauer  Votes: 277         Vote Percentage: 100%

District 5: Dem Primary – Joan Greene          Votes: 19,763             Vote Percentage: 60.4%

GOP Primary – Andy Biggs               Votes: 54,788            Vote Percentage: 100%

District 6: Dem Primary – Anita Malik   Votes: 15,131        Vote Percentage: 40.5%

                               Heather Ross      Votes: 14,848   Vote Percentage: 39.7%

GOP Primary – David Schweikert    Votes: 57,910   Vote Percentage: 100%

District 7: Dem Primary – Ruben Gallego    Votes: 20,742       Vote Percentage: 74.6%

GOP Primary – N/A

District 8: Dem Primary – Hiral Tipirneni     Votes: 39,680     Vote Percentage: 100%

GOP Primary – Debbie Lesko    Votes: 53,910        Vote Percentage: 77.1%

District 9: Dem Primary – Greg Stanton          Votes: 40,173         Vote Percentage: 100%

GOP Primary – Stephen Ferrara      Votes: 21,022         Vote Percentage: 59.1%

Florida

Gubernatorial primary results:

In a shocking upset, Andrew Gillum, a young black mayor of Tallahassee, defeated a crowded Democratic field to earn his party’s nomination Tuesday. Gillum, who spent the least of the major candidates and appealed to the far left of the party, received the backing of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.

On the Republican side, U.S. Rep. Ron DeSantis came from behind with the help of the president’s support to beat Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam.

DeSantis and Gillum will square off in November to decide who will replace current Gov. Rick Scott, who has reached his term limit.

GOP Primary – Ron DeSantis       Votes: 913,679      Vote Percentage: 56.5%

Andrew Gillum delivered a shocking upset in Florida's primary on Tuesday to earn the Democratic nomination for governor. (AP)

Dem Primary – Andrew Gillum   Votes: 517,417      Vote Percentage: 34.3%

U.S. Senate primary results:

Florida Gov. Rick Scott cruised to victory in the Republican primary, defeating California Businessman Roque “Rocky” De La Fuente with nearly 90 percent of the votes.

Scott will meet Democratic incumbent U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson in a crucial November election that could decide which party controls the Senate. Nelson was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 2000.

Dem Primary – Bill Nelson       UNCONTESTED

GOP Primary – Rick Scott   Votes: 1,452,554             Vote Percentage: 88.6%

U.S. House of Representatives

Florida held more than a dozen Congressional primaries on Tuesday, but Democrats are eyeing one seat in particular that they believe could flip from GOP control.

Former Clinton administration Cabinet member and university president Donna Shalala won the Democratic primary, and will face Spanish-language broadcaster Maria Elvira Salazar to decide who will replace retiring Longtime incumbent Republican Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen.

Although Ros-Lehtinen won re-election in 2016, presidential candidate Hillary Clinton had about a 20 percentage point advantage of Trump.

In the other races, no incumbents were defeated. Democratic Rep. Frederica Wilson was re-elected after winning her primary because she has no challengers in the general election.

District 27: Dem Primary – Donna Shalala              Votes: 14,153     Vote Percentage 31.9%

   GOP Primary -   Maria Salazar                            Votes: 15,812    Vote Percentage: 40.5%

The Associated Press contributed to this report.