How Gulf County voted on Primary Election Day
For the first time since John Hanlon was elected as Gulf County’s Supervisor of Elections, election day voting turnout eclipsed early voting and vote-by-mail numbers in Tuesday’s primary election.
“Election Day, for the first time since I started working here in 2008, surpassed early voting,” Hanlon said.
There were 2,246 Gulf County ballots cast for primary elections in 2022.
Gulf County has 10,332 registered voters, meaning voter turnout for the primary elections was around 21.7 percent. Voter turnout was around 40 percent in the 2020 primary elections in Gulf County, though it is typical for turnout to be higher during years that coincide with the U.S. presidential election.
Hanlon said that turnout is likely to be higher for the general election, which will be held November 8.
“The voting percentage turnout, you have to bear in mind that although it doesn’t look that high, it’s artificially suppressed,” he said.
“I’ve got 2,000 voters who are not party affiliated, and they have nothing to vote on, but those 2,000 are included in the total registered numbers, so it makes the turnout look a little less than what it truly is for those who were eligible to vote in this election.”
Republicans were able to vote in the primary for the state’s commissioner of Agriculture, and Republican voters in Gulf County’s District 2 voted for the Republican candidate for the county commission seat. Democrats voted in primaries for the state’s governor, senator, attorney general and commissioner of agriculture.
Winners of the primaries who face opposition from a candidate from another party will move on to have their names on the general election ballot.
There is still time to register to vote in the November 8 election. For more information on how to register to vote, visit the supervisor of elections’ website.
Here’s how Gulf County voted on August 23
REPUBLICAN PRIMARY
County Commission Dist. 2
| Ward McDaneil | 175 votes | 34.65% |
| Tom Semmes | 144 votes | 28.51% |
| Billy Traylor | 186 votes | 36.83% |
Commissioner of Agriculture
| James Shaw | 390 votes | 26.05% |
| Wilton Simpson | 1,107 votes | 73.95% |
DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY
Governor
| Charlie Crist | 367 votes | 51.9% |
| Cadence Daniel | 32 votes | 4.53% |
| Nicole “Nikki” Fried | 262 votes | 37.06% |
| Robert L. Williw | 46 votes | 6.51% |
Senator
| Ricardo De La Fuente | 20 votes | 2.9% |
| Val Demings | 484 votes | 70.25% |
| Brian Rush | 120 votes | 17.42% |
| William Sanchez | 65 votes | 9.43% |
Attorney General
| Aramia Ayala | 238 votes | 36.12% |
| Jim Lewis | 257 votes | 39% |
| Daniel Uhlfelder | 164 votes | 24.89% |
Commissioner of Agriculture
| Naomi Esther Blemur | 305 votes | 45.66% |
| J.R. Gaillot | 182 votes | 27.25% |
| Ryan Morale | 181 votes | 27.1% |
Meet the Editor
David Adlerstein, The Apalachicola Times’ digital editor, started with the news outlet in January 2002 as a reporter.
Prior to then, David Adlerstein began as a newspaperman with a small Boston weekly, after graduating magna cum laude from Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts. He later edited the weekly Bellville Times, and as business reporter for the daily Marion Star, both not far from his hometown of Columbus, Ohio.
In 1995, he moved to South Florida, and worked as a business reporter and editor of Medical Business newspaper. In Jan. 2002, he began with the Apalachicola Times, first as reporter and later as editor, and in Oct. 2020, also began editing the Port St. Joe Star.