Election night in Tampa Bay: Decision 2022

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Charlie Crist stands at a lectern at a rally

Election night coverage and updates by Jeremiah Mckay, Carlos Travieso, Chrisovaladou Pantelis and Baalaaj Harris.

Update: 8:57 p.m. EDT

Retired Green Beret and Purple Heart Recipient, Jay Collins has won the senate race for District 14.

The final numbers:

Collins: 54%

Cruz: 45%

Laurel Lee who also supported Jay Collins alongside Marco Rubio at a recent convention on November 3rd has also won a seat in Congress for the 15th district. The final results are:

Lee: 59%

Cohn: 41%

Update: 8:41 p.m. EDT

Anna Paulina Luna has won a seat for Congress.
The final numbers:
Luna: 53%
Lynn: 45%

Update 8:16 p.m. EDT

In the race for State Senator for the 14th District between Jay Collins and Janet Cruz, it seems that Collins will take the seat. With 151 out of 152 Hillsborough Precincts reporting their votes Collins has taken a lead with 54.74% of the votes compared to Cruz’s 45.26%.

Update 8:08 p.m. EDT

95% of precincts have reported for Hillsborough County so far, the results are:

The U.S. Senate race:
Rubio: 52.73%
Demings: 45.89%

The gubernatorial race:
DeSantis: 54.34%
Crist: 44.81%

The Congressional 15th:
Lee: 56.25%
Cohn: 43.75%

Update: 8:00 p.m. EDT

Almost all the precincts have been counted in Pinellas County, about 90%

Update: 7:45 p.m. EDT

How’s Charlie Crist doing in his home county? not good:
DeSantis: 54%
Crist: 44%

Update: 7:35 p.m. EDT

Early returns are in Hillsborough County. So far only early votes and votes by mail have been reported:

The U.S. Senate race:
Rubio: 48.81%
Demings: 49.93%

The gubernatorial race:
DeSantis: 49.97%
Crist: 49.25%.

The Congressional 15th:
Lee: 51.44%
Cohn: 48.56%

Update: 7:17 p.m. EDT

Early returns are in Pinellas County. 34% of precincts are reported:

The U.S. Senate race:
Rubio: 49.12%
Demings: 49.39%

The gubernatorial race:
DeSantis: 50%
Crist: 48%.

The Congressional:
Luna: 49%
Lynn: 48%

Update: 6:40 p.m. EDT

We have six reporters at various locations in the Tampa Bay region covering the night’s returns and reactions. You can catch our live reporters on the Florida Focus Instagram.

Update: 6:00 p.m. EDT

The Florida Focus and Media Convergence classes at the University of South Florida in Tampa are providing election night coverage in five key races in the region.

  • The gubernatorial race between Republican incumbent Ron DeSantis and Democratic challenger/former GOP governor Charlie Crist. We have reporters at both election night parties for the campaigns.
  • The U.S. Senate race between incumbent Republican Marco Rubio and Democratic challenger Val Demings.
  • The Florida State Senate race between Jay Collins and Democratic incumbent Janet Cruz. We have reporters with both campaigns tonight.
  • The congressional race between Republican Laurel Lee and Democrat Alan Cohn. We have reporters at the Lee party location for coverage.
  • The congressional race between Democrat Eric Lynn and Republican Anna Paulina Luna.

Stay tuned with us here for updates

Published by Wayne Garcia

Wayne Garcia is an award-winning journalist and educator, working in Florida newspapers, colleges and political campaigns for 30 years. He is a senior instructor and former director of Zimmerman School of Advertising and Mass Communications. His background is in political and investigative journalism. Garcia teaches courses in Mass Communications and Society, Beginning Reporting, Advanced Reporting, the Future of Journalism, Editing I, and Writing for the Mass Media. As a journalist, he worked for the St. Petersburg Times, Tampa Tribune and Gainesville Sun daily newspapers. During his tenure as the political editor for the alt-weekly Creative Loafing, Garcia won two Sunshine State Awards for his political writing and his widely read political blog. He was the 2009 recipient of the Irene Miller Vigilance in Journalism Award from the Pinellas Chapter of the ACLU. He is a past executive director of the Florida Scholastic Press Association, the leading advocacy group for high school journalists in the state. As a political consultant for nine years, he ran or was part of more than 100 campaigns in the state of Florida. A native of Scotch Plains, N.J., who grew up in Fort Lauderdale, Garcia is a Florida Gator and a USF Bull, having earned his master’s degree from USF St. Petersburg.