Election results: Primary Election 2026

If you’re looking for election results for candidates who are local to Greater Oviedo and Winter Springs as well as state and federal candidates, this is the place. Scroll all the way down for reports from the field on election night, including quotes from winning candidates.

Editor’s note: The OCN team pours hundreds of hours into the voter guide each year so we want to make sure we covered what you needed us to cover. And if we missed something, we want to fix it. Can you please take this brief survey and tell us how we did? 

The Primary Election is when some candidate races are decided completely, such as with the school board and judgeships, but it also serves as a qualifying round for some political races, where winners in the primary election then move on to the General Election for a final round of voting in November.

Oviedo Community News has partnered with the Associated Press to share the AP’s live-updated results for federal and statewide races. That data will update automatically on this page as the AP receives information. The OCN team will source data from the Seminole County Supervisor of Elections site and The Florida Trib to update the county and local races as it’s available. Learn about the candidates, the races and helpful voter information on OCN’s dedicated page: Voter Guide 2026: Primary Election.

This article will continue to be updated. For statewide races, Panhandle counties’ polls won’t close until 8 p.m.

Local results

Federal and state election results (courtesy of the Associated Press)

Incumbents win big in school board races

An uncertain race for the School Board’s Seat 1, 2 and 5 in which party politics entered the race with the Republican and Democratic parties both endorsing individual candidates had incumbent School Board Members Autumn Garick and Kristine Kraus anxiously watching for results Tuesday night with friends and supporters at Rock & Brews in Oviedo. 

But for two of the three races, the result quickly seemed to be too big a gap for the challengers to overcome.  

Note: All results are 10:16 p.m. with 100% of precincts reporting.

Kraus wins largest margin

“It feels like a relief and I want to get back to work. That’s really what it feels like,” said Kristine Kraus after pulling in 48,787 votes, or 67.97% of votes over challenger Antonio Pizza’s 22,985 votes or 32.03% in the Seminole County School Board District 1 race on Tuesday night with 100% of precincts reporting.  

“It feels like a relief and I want to get back to work. That’s really what it feels like,” she said.  

“I’m very humbled to be re-elected. I’ve been honored to serve. Let’s get back to work for our kids. 

She said understanding the people she serves helped her win the votes. 

“We put in the work, we made phone calls. We talked to our constituents. Just meeting people where they were to hear their concerns really helped.” 

Kraus has served on the board for eight years and was the most recent board chair. Pizza is a recent Hagerty High School graduate. Kraus said the schools are a driving economic factor, bringing business and families to the area.   

“We have challenges coming. We know that,” she said. The school district faces a $600,000 deficit next year. “I think the voters wanted someone with experience in the district…I think that’s what we saw today.”

Mills, Memminger in tight fight to final tally

With a very narrow race for District 2, two challengers facing each other for an open seat were watching the tallies come down to the final few percent of precincts as of 9 p.m. The results continued to tighten beyond 10 p.m., but Memminger couldn’t close a bigger initial gap.

With 100% of polls reporting, Holton Mills had 35,851 votes, or 50.97%, to Joshua Memminger’s 34,481, or 49.03% votes for the District 2 School Board seat. 

“I haven’t had a bad day (campaigning),” Mills said before the full election results had been tabulated. “I fell back in love with humanity during this process because there are such good people in this community.”

Mills previously served as chairperson of the Foundation for Seminole County Public Schools, which raises private donations to help pay for things like scholarships. Mills doesn’t have children in the public school system. 

At a recent candidate forum, Mills said he thinks the board needs to be transparent about spending and that he personally would support some increased funding. “We need to be good stewards of our taxpayer money.”

Joshua Memminger is a School Resource Officer, and his campaign focused on school safety.

School Board Seat 5 a big win for Garick

“We teach our kids to be resilient and to be prepared for anything,” Garick said. “And so walking into tonight I was prepared, win or lose, that I had given it my all.” 

But as early results began trickling in, it became clear she was closing in on re-election. 

Shortly before 8 p.m. the gap she had built in early results appeared mathematically insurmountable. At 10:16 p.m. those results were complete. 

Garick pushed back against book bans in the state at the candidate forum, creating a gap in vision between herself and challenger Brian Newsome, who said that he was in favor of some of the book bans. 

“Our students need more books, not fewer books,” Garick said. 

With 100% of precincts reporting, Garick had received 45,246 votes, or 63.83% of the vote, to Newsome’s 25,643 votes and 36.17%. 

Garick said that her connection with the community helped her keep her post. 

“I have built relationships throughout the community, throughout Seminole County, genuine relationships built on trust,” Garick said. “People know they can come to me with issues and that I’m going to give them the straight answers.”

Looking forward, Garick said she’d just received a 1,200-page book of issues to tackle in her coming term. 

“Public education is facing some big challenges right now,” Garick said. “But for those of us who believe in its power, who believe that it is the greatest engine of opportunity for our kids and our future, when we join forces, the best days are ahead of us, not behind us.”

What voters had to say on Election Day

The issues driving Seminole County voters to the polls Tuesday included affordability, flock cameras and key races for governor, congress and the Florida House. 

As of 3 p.m., more than 60,000 votes had already been cast, an unofficial turnout tracking around 18 percent of registered voters. 

Winter Springs resident David McIntosh was holding signs for Seminole County Democrats at the Winter Springs Senior Center. He recalled a few years back when a woman came up to him, wagged a finger and called him a communist. 

“And I said, ‘do you know what that makes you? My neighbor,” McIntosh said. “I think this is a critically important election. I think that we have to get back to civility.” 

Candidates also made their final push Monday, including John Lowndes, who is running in the primary against H. Alexander Duncan. 

The winner of the contest for Florida Senate will face incumbent state Sen. Jason Brodeur for District 10. 

“We hope for all the turnout we can get, and hopefully there’s a good Democratic turnout,” Lowndes said Tuesday at the Winter Springs Senior Center. 

Florida has a closed primary system, but Seminole County has multiple races all voters can weigh in on. That includes school board races, like one where Joshua Memminger is running for an open seat against Holton Mills.

Memminger was campaigning outside of the Geneva Church Tuesday, before planning to hit multiple other stops across the county. Memminger was campaigning with his mother. 

“Today’s goal is really just continue voter outreach,” Memminger said. “So we’re at the polls, just sign waving, greeting folks as they’re coming in, and really just kind of the last second push to make sure that we get the word out about the campaign.”

Another non-partisan race on everyone’s ballots: Judicial races. Candidate Erik Swenk was also at the Geneva church. Swenk said he’s still getting people reaching out on election day, trying to decide who to vote for. 

“Unfortunately, judicial races are one of those that are just not that popular because people don’t think they’re ever going to find themselves in court,” Swenk said. “County court deals with landlord-tenant law. So if you’re having an issue with your landlord, or vice versa, you’re the landlord and you’re having an issue with a tenant, you can very easily find yourself in county court, and all of a sudden that judge that you thought didn’t have an impact on your life does. So it’s incredibly important.”

See below for a breakdown of voters who spoke with Oviedo Community News Tuesday.

David McIntosh

Winter Springs resident David McIntosh has been involved with political campaigns since his uncle ran for judge in Palm Beach County. 

He would walk door-to-door and hand out fliers, telling them to vote for Russell McIntosh for judge.

“They’d say ‘Why?’, and I’d say, ‘Because he’s my uncle,’ and walk off,” McIntosh recalled with a laugh. 

On Tuesday, McIntosh was holding a sign for Seminole County Democrats and handing out literature at the Winter Springs Senior Cent. McIntosh said the most important race is for U.S. Representative Congressional District 7, the seat currently held by incumbent Republican Rep. Cory Mills. 

McIntosh likes Democrat Bale Dalton as the challenger; Dalton, a veteran, was former Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson’s chief of staff and the former chief of staff at NASA.  Dalton versus Mills appeals to McIntosh. 

Mills is facing multiple ethics complaints and a reported Department of Justice criminal investigation. 

“Our current congressman has, shall we say, a few warts,” McIntosh said. “I have a strong opinion of him. You know, I think that you’re looking at night and day there.”

McIntosh said he was also concerned with the judicial races. For him, temperament was the biggest factor. He liked incumbent Judge Sylvia Grunor over challenger Nathan Skop. 

Related: Judicial candidate Nathan Skop not rehirable by state attorney’s office

But he didn’t vote for incumbent Wayne Culver in Group 6 because of a widely publicized issue in 2024 where Culver was suspended for cursing at a courtroom attendant.

“I did not vote for (Culver) for that very reason,” McIntosh said. 

Barbara Zakszewski

Winter Springs resident Barbara Zakszewski said voting is her patriotic duty and a constitutional right. 

She said the most important race was for governor. 

“We need a governor that’s going to basically continue the work of Governor DeSantis,” Zakszewski said. 

She didn’t vote in the judicial races, she said. She said the campaign for Florida House District 38, which was held by term-limited Republican David Smith, was also an important race. That seat sees two Republicans vying for the spot: Emily Duda Buckley, whose family has owned Duda Farms for 100 years, and Marcus Hyatt, a former police officer.

She said the race has become too negative, referencing an ad which called Hyatt more “DEI than GOP.”

“That was a rough race, the representative, because she’s saying he’s a horrible person, and he’s saying she’s a horrible person, and it’s like, which one is less horrible?” Zakszewski said.  

Brandon Elson

For Brandon Elson, the president of the PTA at Winter Springs Elementary, the school board race was top of mind. 

He’s a full-time father, and the separation of church and state is a big issue for him. He brought his daughter to vote Tuesday. 

“I really just want to get Moms for Liberty out of any school board we possibly can, and keep actually true Democratic properties and keep church out of state,” Elson said. 

Elson voted for incumbent school board members Autumn Garick and Kristine Kraus, as well as Holton Mills.  

He also said the race for Congressional District 7 was important. He voted for Marialana Kinter, a more grassroots candidate. 

“She’s more progressive,” Elson said. 

Abbey Biggs

For Abbey Biggs, her biggest issue is affordability. 

“Prices are going up,” Biggs said. “I don’t make a whole lot of money in the first place. Everything’s getting more expensive. The price of gas is going up. It’s just getting harder to save money and get by.”

Biggs is a registered independent. She also does not like Flock cameras going up in Oviedo and other areas; Flock cameras are automatic license plate readers, which opponents argue are an invasion of privacy.

She said she drives by several Flock cameras every day. 

“I think it’s excessive,” Biggs said. “I don’t think that we should be surveilling people more.”

Abe Aboraya is a Report for America corps member.

Megan Stokes contributed to this report.