Florida’s presidential primary, results in northeast Florida local races

Though President Joe Biden and former president Donald Trump clinched enough delegates to win their respective party’s presidential nomination last week, voters in Florida will be going to the polls Tuesday to cast a vote in a Republican presidential primary.

Under state law, the deadline for presidential candidates to withdraw from Florida’s presidential primary ballot was Dec. 12, 2023. Candidates who suspend their campaigns after that date remain on the ballot, and votes for them will be counted. As a result, there are six names on the ballot in addition to Trump’s: Ryan Binkley, Chris Christie, Ron DeSantis, Nikki Haley, Asa Hutchinson, and Vivek Ramaswamy.

The Florida Democratic Party only put President Biden’s name on the ballot for the presidential primary. As a result, the Democratic presidential primary was canceled, and Biden will get all of the state’s convention delegates.

As Florida is a closed primary state, only voters who were registered Republicans before the February 20 deadline are eligible to cast a ballot in the Republican primary. Registered Democrats, no party affiliation voters, and members of minor parties are not eligible to vote in the Republican presidential primary.

MORE: LIVE RESULTS: Presidential primaries in Arizona, Illinois, Kansas, Ohio

Beyond the presidential primary, some municipalities in the area are holding local elections on the same day, and those will be open to all registered voters there.

Voters in the city of St. Augustine will be asked to vote on a charter amendment involving the police pension. The amendment doesn’t make any changes to pension rules, it just moves the pension sections in the city charter to the regular municipal code. According to the city, this will allow the city to amend police pension rules in the future by passing a simple ordinance, and not require a referendum to the charter.

In Flagler County, voters in Flagler Beach will see a race on their ballot for the city commission, between Eric Cooley and Bob Cunningham. Cooley currently sits on the Flagler Beach city commission.

In Putnam County, there is an election for the Welaka Town Council. There are two seats available, so voters will be asked to vote for two of the three candidates: Jessica Finch, Glenn Hammond, and Kathy Washington. Finch is currently the council president, and Washington is also a current council member.