Gray Rohrer
Rep. Jay Trumbull is one step closer to making the jump from the House to the Senate after defeating Regina Piazza in the Senate District 2 Republican Primary Tuesday night. In unofficial results from the Florida Division of Elections, Trumbull won 76% of the vote to Piazza’s 24%.
Trumbull, a term-limited House member from Panama City, will now face Democrat Carolynn Zonia in the Nov. 8 General Election.
Piazza, a former Air Force member who now works for Classical Conversations, a Christian homeschooling program, made Trumbull work for the victory, loaning her campaign $28,500 and spending more than $72,500 overall through Aug. 18, campaign finance records show.
But Trumbull was able to vastly outspend her, raising $504,000 and spending $287,000.
Piazza tried to run to Trumbull’s right, highlighting her opposition to red flag laws, which allow law enforcement to confiscate the firearms of a person deemed a threat to themselves or others after receiving a warrant from a judge. Florida passed such a law as part of a gun control and school safety bill after the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School mass shooting in 2018 that left 17 dead, including 14 children. Trumbull voted in favor of it.
Trumbull, though, touted his endorsement by Gov. Ron DeSantis.
In District 1, incumbent Sen. Doug Broxson of Gulf Breeze brushed aside the challenge from John Mills in the Republican Primary, winning 76% to 24%. Mills spent $8,300 on his campaign through Aug. 18, including $3,500 he loaned his campaign. Broxson has raised nearly $315,000 but spent just $36,000.
Democrat Charlie Nichols now awaits Broxson in the General Election. He’s raised $2,200, with $2,100 coming from a personal loan. Most of it was spent on the qualifying fee of $1,782.
