Election Day 2018: Florida primary preview

It’s Election Day and starting at 7:00 a.m. you can cast your ballot to decide which candidates move on to the general election in November.

MORE: Full 2018 Election Coverage

This election already holds historic interest. Nearly 2 million people have their ballots in early voting or by mail.

Lee County Supervisor of Elections, Tommy Doyle, says his office saw a major uptick in the number of mail-in ballots this time around.

This could be a sign that campaigns need to get their messages out earlier.

Doyle expects that mail-in ballots could be an important factor for this primary election.

You can still drop off a mail-in ballot by 3:00 p.m. Tuesday to any Lee County election branch or by 7:00 p.m. at the supervisor of elections office at 2480 Thompson Street, Fort Myers.

Law requires that you vote at the precinct assigned to your legal residence and make sure to bring your identification.

MORE: When and where to vote in the Florida primary election

A guide to Florida’s primary election

Florida voters on Tuesday will select the nominees for governor, agriculture commissioner, attorney general, and several congressional seats. Here’s a look at the races facing Florida on Election Day.

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REPUBLICAN GUBERNATORIAL PRIMARY

Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam faces U.S. Rep. Ron DeSantis in a race where President Donald Trump has taken DeSantis’ side. Putnam was elected to the state House in 1996 at the age of 22, elected to the U.S. House in 2000, and to his current job in 2010. He was considered a shoo-in for the Republican nomination.

Then in December, Trump tweeted out his support for DeSantis, who wasn’t even in the race at the time. DeSantis announced his candidacy in January. While Putnam was focused on a grassroots campaign, DeSantis was an almost nightly feature on Fox News, usually defending Trump.

DEMOCRATIC GUBERNATORIAL PRIMARY

Florida’s Democratic primary is the most crowded since 1978, the year Bob Graham eventually won the governor’s race. Coincidentally, Graham’s daughter, former U.S. Rep. Gwen Graham, is on the ballot and has been polling favorably.

The Democratic ballot is also one of the most diverse Florida has seen. Of the five major candidates, only Orlando-businessman Chris King is a white, Christian man. Graham could become Florida’s first female governor; Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum could become the state’s first black governor; and either former Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine or billionaire Jeff Greene could be the state’s second Jewish governor.

AGRICULTURE COMMISSIONER

The Republican primary for this open Cabinet seat has gained most of the attention. State Rep. Matt Caldwell, state Sen. Denise Grimsley, former state Rep. Baxter Troutman and former Army Col. Mike McCalister are vying for the seat Putnam is leaving because of term limits.

Caldwell is backed by the National Rifle Association and has focused his media campaign on being pro-gun. Grimsley comes from a family of cattle ranchers and citrus growers. Troutman is a businessman and citrus grower. McCalister has been nearly invisible in the campaign. The Democratic primary is a contest between Homestead Mayor Jeffrey Porter, lobbyist Nikki Fried and environmentalist Roy Walker.

ATTORNEY GENERAL

The Democratic and Republican primaries have each been particularly nasty – and there almost wasn’t a Democratic primary. Democratic state Rep. Sean Shaw has more money and establishment support, but he filed a lawsuit to get Tampa attorney Ryan Torrens off the ballot. Torrens responded by suing Shaw for libel. Just four days before the primary, a judge agreed that Torrens used an illegal donation to pay the qualifying fee to get on the ballot, and ruled that no votes for him should be counted.

But an appeals judge put a stay on the decision on Monday, keeping Torrens’ campaign alive. On the Republican side, auto-dealer lawyer and state Rep. Frank White has been running as a Trump-style conservative, while former judge and prosecutor Ashley Moody is running on her experience in court. White has attacked Moody for suing Trump over a failed Tampa development project, while Moody has attacked White as a car salesman turned politician.

CONGRESS

Four incumbent members of Congress are leaving their seats, setting up some interesting primaries. And three incumbents – Republican U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz and Democratic U.S. Reps. Al Lawson and Darren Soto – are facing serious challenges within their own parties. Among the most watched races is the scramble to replace Republican U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen in a district that should favor Democrats.

The best-known candidate in that race is Donna Shalala, who served as President Bill Clinton’s Health and Human Services secretary. Gaetz won a crowded Republican primary two years ago with only 36 percent of the vote. He’s being challenged by Cris Dosev, who had 20 percent of the vote in 2016 primary. Soto is being challenged by the man he replaced in Congress – Alan Grayson. Soto won a crowded primary with only 36 percent of the vote. Al Lawson is being challenged by former Jacksonville Mayor Alvin Brown.

Republican U.S. Rep. Dennis Ross is giving up his seat and state Rep. Neil Combee and state Rep. Ross Spano are battling for the Republican nomination in a heavily GOP district. Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Rooney is also leaving Congress in a heavily Republican district, meaning the primary winner between state Sen. Greg Steube and state Rep. Julio Gonzalez will likely go to Washington.

And the seat DeSantis is leaving to run for governor has two primaries. Republican businessmen John Ward and Michael Walz and former state Rep. Fred Costello face off in the Republican primary. On the Democratic side, former United Nations ambassador and member of President Bill Clinton’s National Security Council Nancy Soderberg faces two opponents in a race where she’s had strong national backing.

U.S. SENATE

Republican Gov. Rick Scott has a primary, but it’s a foregone conclusion that he will beat Rocky De La Fuente, who is running for Senate in several states and hasn’t had a visible campaign in Florida. Once the election is official, Scott will face Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson.

The Associated Press contributed to this article.