Primary wrap up —

These VoteWater-endorsed candidates won

If we were talking baseball, our batting average in the Aug. 23 primary would be fairly impressive:

Nine of the 19 candidates VoteWater ultimately endorsed won their race Tuesday night — just under .500.

We’re pleased — but not satisfied until clean water is a priority for all candidates, at all levels.

At the top of Tuesday’s ticket was the Democratic gubernatorial primary, where VoteWater’s pick, Charlie Crist, easily bested Nikki Fried, with 59.7% of the vote to Fried’s 35.3%

Crist, who touted our endorsement on social media, did not take money from Big Sugar or other polluting industries this cycle, and on the campaign trail has talked about revisiting plans to buy sugar farms in the Everglades Agricultural Area to restore the Everglades’ historic flow.

Other candidates we endorsed who won Tuesday night:

Val Demings, who easily won the Democratic Senatorial nod, and who will face off against Republican Marco Rubio in November.
U.S. Rep. Brian Mast, who bested three challengers in the Republican District 21 primary and will now face Corinna Balderramos Robinson in the general election.
Florida Sen. Shevrin Jones, who trounced two Democratic opponents Tuesday and has now won re-election to a second term, as he faces no Republican opposition in November.
Thomas Flescher, Indian River County Commission candidate.
Sarah Heard, Martin County Commission candidate.
Danielle Cohen-Higgins, Miami-Dade County Commission candidate.

In addition, two late endorsees in the City of Stuart, where VoteWater is based, won their races for the city commission, incumbent Eula Clarke and newcomer Campbell Rich.

Endorsed candidates who did not prevail included Ken Russell, Democratic Congressional District 27 candidate; Saima Farooqui, Democratic candidate in Florida House District 97; Elijah Manley, candidate for the Democratic nomination in District 99; Clay Miller, Democrat in District 101; Andres Althabe, Democrat in District 113; Daniel Horton-Diaz, Democrat in District 120; Sandra Sullivan, Republican candidate for the District 4 seat in Broward County; Thomas Lowther, Republican in District 4, Indian River County; Mike Cosentino, Democrat in District 2, Sarasota County; and Merritt Matheson, District 3 candidate for the Stuart City Commission.

“Congratulations to the endorsed candidates who won, and to those who didn’t, thanks for standing up for clean water,” said VoteWater Executive Director Gil Smart.

VoteWater will soon update its voter guides for the general election, where we’ll once again survey, rank and sometimes endorse candidates at the federal, state and local level in 15 key Florida counties; Brevard, Broward, Charlotte, Collier, Hillsborough, Indian River, Lee, Manatee, Martin, Miami-Dade, Monroe, Palm Beach, Pinellas, Sarasota and St. Lucie.

Look for the updated guide in early October, a month before the Nov. 8 general election.

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