Florida's primary produced several surprises and some expected results in federal, state and local government races.

Here's a roundup of the major races Tuesday night.

  • Rubio will face Murphy in November election; both won primaries
  • Paul Stanton wins Libertarian nomination for U.S. Senate
  • Val Demings won House District 10 primary
  • Darren Soto won House District 9 primary
  • Amendment 4 passed overwhelmingly, offering solar energy exemptions
  • State Attorney Jeff Ashton lost to challenger Aramis Ayala

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U.S. Senate races

Rubio's and Murphy's wins Tuesday night were not entirely unexpected. Pollsters gave Murphy the edge in the race against his challengers. Meanwhile Rubio, the incumbent, has strong party support.

Until June though, it was believed Rubio would be on the sidelines. Rubio initially said he would be a private citizen after losing his presidential campaign to Donald Trump.

On Tuesday, Rubio said he changed his mind because he could not accept the Republicans losing his Senate seat to the Democrats.

" I was prepared to become a private citizen and not just prepared to be so, but I was excited about what that meant... time with our family and other opportunities," Rubio said.

"But I just couldn't be at peace with the idea that we were going to not just potentially lose the senate seat, but lose the balance of power in this critical moment in our nation's history."

U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy thanked supporters and campaign staff for his primary win at the campaign's party in Palm Beach Gardens. Murphy will face incumbent Sen. Marco Rubio in November.

"I know that Florida is ready for a senator that works for them, who is always going to put them first," Murphy said.

Murphy lambasted Rubio's record in the Senate, particularly his attendance record, which suffered during his presidential run.

Murphy also criticized Rubio's recent statement that it was tough to commit to a six-year Senate term.

"I've got two words for you, Senator -- I can," Murphy said.

Meanwhile, Libertarians chose Paul Stanton to be their nominee for the U.S. Senate seat.

Stanton beat Augustus Sol Invictus, 74 percent to 26 percent.

Rubio thanked his supporters for the win in Kissimmee Tuesday night.

Also in Kissimmee was Democratic Rep. Alan Grayson.

The atmosphere was festive as the evening began at a downtown Kissimmee bar and grill, but the mood quickly changed as it became apparent Grayson would lose his election.

Alan Grayson, in conceding, accused Patrick Murphy of running a "dirty, smear-filled campaign."

Many in the crowd were also pulling for his wife, Dr. Dena Grayson, to win in her bid to be the nominee for the District 9 House seat Alan Grayson was giving up.

Dena Grayson said she ran a clean race, but blamed an influx of money used to attack her and prop up her opponents for her defeat.

U.S. House races

The following Central Florida area candidates won their U.S. House races Tuesday night.

  • U.S. House District 2 (includes part of Marion County)
    • GOP Primary: Neal Dunn
    • The Democratic primary appears to be too close to call. Walter Dartland and Steve Crapps are separated by 108 votes.
  • U.S. House District 6 (includes Flagler, Volusia and part of Lake counties)
    • GOP Primary: Incumbent Ron DeSantis
    • Democratic Primary: Bill McCullough
  • U.S. House District 7 (Includes Seminole and part of Orange counties)
    • GOP Primary: Incumbent John Mica
  • U.S. House District 9 (Includes parts of Orange, Osceola and Polk counties)
    • GOP Primary: Wayne Liebnitzky
    • Democratic Primary: Darren Soto
  • U.S. House District 10 (Includes part of Orange County)
    • Democratic Primary: Val Demings
  • U.S. House District 11 (Includes parts of Lake, Sumter and Marion counties)
    • GOP Primary: Dan Webster (Was formerly in District 10)

All of the candidates face challengers in November.

Elsewhere in Florida, one embattled Democrat has lost her re-election bid, while another beat back her challenger.

Rep. Corrine Brown, who formerly represented Central Florida from Jacksonville before the Florida Supreme Court forcibly redrew her district, has lost her Democratic primary bid.

Brown lost to Al Lawson for U.S. House District 5. He will face Glo Smith in November.

Brown is under indictment on fraud charges. Federal prosecutors accuse Brown of using her position to solicit donations for a charity, only to use that group as a "personal slush fund."

Meanwhile in South Florida, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz beat back her primary challenger. Schultz beat Tim Canova. She faces two Republican challengers and two no party affiliation challengers in November.

Schultz faced a tough challenge from progressives angry at Schultz's conduct as chairman of the Democratic National Committee. Schultz was linked to leaked emails that indicated the party tried to influence the Democratic presidential primary in favor of Hillary Clinton.

Schultz was forced to resign from the DNC before the party convention in July.

State races

A Florida statewide amendment to give tax exemptions to businesses for solar panels.

Amendment 4 won 73 percent to 27 percent. The measure needed 60 percent of the vote to win.

Supporters say lowering the taxes on solar power paves the way for an expansion of the energy systems in Florida, creating thousands of clean energy jobs, while also lowering energy costs.

The amendment had strong grassroots support, along with bipartisan support from lawmakers and a coalition of businesses.

"We are thrilled that voters embraced this important amendment, which will lower energy costs and create new jobs and business opportunities for solar power in the Sunshine State," said Tory Perfetti, chairman of Floridians 4 Lower Energy Costs.

In Orange County, State Rep. Randolph Bracy won the Democratic nomination for Florida Senate District 11. Bracy beat back a distinguished field, which included former Florida Sen. Gary Siplin and Democrats Bob Sindler and Chuck O'Neal.

Bracy faces only a write-in candidate in November.

In the Florida Senate District 13 race, Linda Stewart pulled off an upset, beating Mike Clelland and Rick Roach for the Democratic nomination. Stewart is a longtime progressive politician in Orange County, including time in the county commission and in the Florida House.

Clelland is also a Florida representative. Roach, meanwhile, was a longtime member of the Orange County School District.

Stewart faces Dean Asher, a Republican, in Nocember.

In the Florida Senate District 12 race, longtime state lawmaker Dennis Baxley fended off two other challengers to win the Republican primary for a district that includes parts of Marion, Lake and Sumter counties. Baxley faces a write-in candidate in November.

Notable county races

Here are the results of some of the biggest county and municipal races in our area. To find the results of a race near you, head to our LIVE Election Results section and use the dropdown menu to find your county.

Flagler County

In Flagler County, Milissa Holland, former county commissioner, will become the first female mayor in Palm Coast history, cruising to a win over three other challengers.

Holland collected about 63 percent of the vote. Challengers Dennis McDonald and John Brady each had 15 percent, and Ron Radford had 7 percent.

The current sheriff has been ousted from his position in a Democratic primary.

Incumbent Sheriff Jim Manfre has lost his re-election bid to Larry Jones.

Rick Staly has won the Republican primary race for sheriff and will face Jones in November.

Manfre issued this statement Tuesday night:

I have been honored to have served as your Sheriff for the past 8 years. I am extremely proud of our combined efforts in transforming the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office (FCSO) into a great law enforcement agency, one capable of reducing crime throughout our community during my term as your Sheriff. In fact, this is the lowest crime rate we have had in 16 years. This is impressive when you consider we had almost half the population we have today.

Since taking office in 2013, we have opened up your sheriff’s office by being more transparent through the release of information, the use of social media, the implementation of body worn cameras and initiating community oriented policing. We have placed special emphasis on offering a more diverse and encompassing training component for all of our deputies that includes crisis intervention and de-escalation training. We have also assisted in the construction of a state of the art operations center, jail and precinct. Through our One Common Ground initiative, we have strengthened relationships between law enforcement, clergy, the school system and our community.

Through hard work and sheer determination, the FCSO was able to obtain our third reaccreditation for law enforcement, as well as obtaining a separate accreditation for our communications section, a first in agency history. We have also started the process of obtaining accreditation for our new jail.

In closing, I look forward to what the future holds and thank all who have made my time as your Sheriff a success.

Marion County

A Democrat and a Republican were chosen in the race for sheriff in Marion County.

William Woods won the GOP primary Tuesday night, while Dennis McFatten Jr. won the Democratic primary.

The two men will run to replace ousted Sheriff Chris Blair, who was accused of lying to a grand jury in an excessive force investigation.

Meanwhile, Marion County will have its first female school superintendent since 1928.

Heidi Maier beat incumbent Superindent George Tomyn Tuesday.

Maier faces only two write-in candidates in November.

Orange County

In Orange County, Phil Diamond has won the race for comptroller, replacing the retiring Martha Haynie.

Comptroller is an important position within the county. The comptroller manages and audits tax and budget issues in the county.

Two Orange County Commission seats will go to runoffs in November.

Betsy Vanderley and Robert Olszewski will face each other in the district 1 Orange County Commission.

In District 5, incumbent Commissioner Ted Edwards will face challenger Emily Bonilla in November.

And the Orange-Osceola County State Attorney has been ousted from his position.

Jeff Ashton lost his position to challenger Aramis Ayala Tuesday in the Democratic primary.

Ayala faces write-in candidate Bill Vose in November, which means she will likely be the winner.

To see what Ashton and Ayala had to say about the election, check out Tuesday's story.

Seminole County

There will be a new tax collector in Seminole County for the first time in nearly three decades. 

Ray Valdez held that position for 28 years, but faced a contested race from challenger Joel Greenberg in the republican primary. On Tuesday night, Greenberg defeated the incumbent by nearly 2,000 votes.

Greenberg, who was CEO of a media company, said he ran to make the tax collector’s office more accessible to people through the internet and social media.

“It’s been an interesting journey, a lot of hard work, it’s definitely been a group effort,” said Greenberg.

“Seminole County residents have spoken and there will be a new path going forward.”

After a contested race in which Greenberg was critical of Valdez, he took time Tuesday night to thank the longtime tax collector for his service to Seminole County.

“I do want to thank Mr. Valdez for his 28 years of service,” said Greenberg.

“That’s quite a remarkable achievement and he has done a lot of good in Seminole County.”

No Democrats ran for tax collector in Seminole County, so Greenberg automatically takes the office for four years with his win in the Republican primary Tuesday night.

Volusia County

There's a new sheriff in town, and he's a very familiar face.

Daytona Beach Police Chief Mike Chitwood won the election for Volusia County Sheriff Tuesday night, garnering enough votes to avoid a runoff in November.

Chitwood, known as a tough-talking law enforcement office, replaces longtime sheriff Ben Johnson.

Chitwood said the first thing he will do with the agency is come up with a program to attack the issues facing the whole county.

"Every single employee in the sheriff’s office is going to get 20 to 30 minutes with me, one-on-one in a closed door setting, to tell me what they want to see and what they expect from the sheriff’s office,” Chitwood said.

Chitwood announced he’ll hold a joint news conference with Sheriff Ben Johnson on Wednesday around 3 p.m.

Early voting in Central Florida

Voters turned out in large numbers to vote by mail or at early voting locations. Below is a look at early voting turnout by county. For an in-depth look, head to this story.

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