DeSantis-Backed School Board Candidates Lose In Hillsborough County

Updated at 10:22 p.m., Tuesday

HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, FL — Primary voters rejected two Moms for Liberty candidates backed by Gov. Ron DeSantis in Tuesday's election, according to early vote returns. With all precincts reporting their results, four incumbent candidates were ahead in four Hillsborough County School Board races.

Incumbent Nadia Combs earned about 53 percent of the vote, taking the lead over challengers Layla Collins (37 percent of the vote) and Julie Magill (10 percent of the vote) in the District 1 race, according to the Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections website.

All results are unofficial until officially canvassed.

Scroll down to view the table showing the latest results in real time.

In District 3, incumbent Jessica Vaughn earned nearly 59 percent of the vote compared to opponent Myosha Powell, who took home about 41 percent of the votes.

Florida Politics reported Combs and Vaughn were targeted for defeat by DeSantis and Moms for Liberty. Vaughn told Florida Politics their wins send a message — residents want School Board races to be about schools, not party politics.

“People are burnt out on those regurgitated talking points,” Vaughn told the political site. “I feel hopeful for the first time in a long time. …There were a lot of people who ran pro-education, pro-educators and teachers. It seems like overwhelmingly that’s what our state is valuing.”

She and Combs are both against the November amendment to make school board races partisan.

District 5 incumbent Henry Washington received about 60.5 percent of the vote. Challenger Kenneth Gay received about 24 percent of the vote, Elvis Piggott nearly 14 percent of the vote and write-in candidates took home more than 1 percent of the vote.

The race was closer in District 7 as incumbent Lynn Gray received about 35 percent of the vote. Karen Bendorf was her closest challenger with about 30 percent of the votes, while Johnny Bush received nearly 25 percent of the votes and Jen Flebottee took home nearly 10 percent.

Voters decided on the Democratic and Republican nominees for U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representative races.

A number of local races were considered, as well. Members of both parties chose their candidates in Hillsborough County Commission races, while all voters in District 1, 3, 5 and 7 decided on school board members.

The following candidates were on the ballot Tuesday:

Democrats Only:

United States Senator:

• Stanley Campbell
• Rod Joseph
• Debbie Mucarsel-Powell
• Brian Rush

Hillsborough County Commission District 4:

• Jonathon T. Chavez
• Nicole Payne

Hillsborough County Commission District 6:

• Sonja P. Brookins
• Cynthia Fuentes
• Mark Nash
• Sean Shaw
• Mariella Smith
• Joseph Ryan Taylor

Republicans Only

United States Senator:

• John S. Columbus
• Keith Gross
• Rick Scott

Representative in Congress, District 14:

• Ehsan Joarder
• Neelam Taneja Perry
• Robert “Rocky” Rochford

Hillsborough County Commission District 2:

• Ken Hagan
• Melissa Nordbeck

Hillsborough County Commission District 4:

• Christine Miller
• Michael Owen
• Cody Powell

Hillsborough County Commission District 6:

• Chris Boles
• Jim Davison

All Voters

Hillsborough County School Board District 1:

• Layla Collins
• Nadia Combs
• Julie Magill

Hillsborough County School Board District 3:

• Myosha Powell
• Jessica Vaughn

Hillsborough County School Board District 5:

• Kenneth Gay
• Elvis Piggott
• Tamara Shamburger
• Henry Washington

Hillsborough County School Board District 7:

• Karen Bendorf
• Johnny Bush
• Jen Flebotte
• Lynn Gray
• Ashley Hartfield-Viewins

REAL-TIME RESULTS FOR HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY RACES

Be sure to refresh this page for the latest results. Scroll through the table below to find results for each race. Can't see the widgets below? Click here for all results from Florida Election Watch