Jacob Ogles
Florida voters have one more day to register to vote and be eligible to cast a ballot in the Aug. 28 primary.
With contested primaries on both the Democrats and Republican sides for governor, attorney general and agriculture commissioner on the ballot, political groups around Florida have kicked into high gear to get as many people on the voter rolls as possible.
As of the end of June, some 12.9 million voters had already registered. That includes about 4.8 million Democrats, 4.6 million Republicans, 3.5 million registered with no party and about 83,000 registered with a third party.
Voters can register at their county Supervisor of Elections office, or they can go to the Department of State’s RegisterToVoteFlorida.gov website.
Voters wishing to change their party registration before the primary must also do so before the end of the day on Monday.
Florida is a closed primary state, so to vote in most party primaries, voters must be registered members of that party. If the outcome of the primary determines the race, all voters in the appropriate jurisdiction will be able to vote in a race.
Voters statewide on Aug. 28 will most notably decide nominations for Governor.
On the Republican side, Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam and U.S. Rep. Ron DeSantis have been in a hard-fought battle for that nomination.
For the Democrats, former U.S. Rep. Gwen Graham, former Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine, Palm Beach billionaire Jeff Greene, Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum and Orlando businessman Chris King all have a shot at the party nomination.
In the Attorney General race, Republicans Ashley Moody and Frank White and Democrats Sean Shaw and Ryan Torrens have been engaged in party battles. For Agriculture Commissioner, Democrats Nikki Fried, Jeffrey Porter and Roy Walker and Republicans Matt Caldwell, Denise Grimsley, Mike McAllister and Baxter Troutman need to win their primaries to advance.
In addition to picking nominees for the governor and Cabinet races, there will be statewide primaries for the Democratic and Republican nominees for U.S. Senate; though Democratic incumbent Bill Nelson and Republican Gov. Rick Scott are heavily favored to win their party nods.
There’s also competitive party primaries for races from Congress down to county positions seats this year, many of which will electively decide elections.
Additionally, there are nonpartisan races around Florida for school board, judge and in some cases municipal office that will appear on the Aug. 28 ballot. Voters regardless of party can vote in these races.
