Republican voters in the greater Tampa Bay area did their part to help the party maintain control of the Legislature, with Chris Sprowls of Pinellas County already slated to be speaker of the House.
MORE: Results From The Florida Division Of Elections
Sprowls, the former assistant state attorney, retained his District 65 seat, beating Democrat Kelly Johnson. He has represented the district, which covers north Pinellas, 2014.
Other local GOP winners in the House included Republicans Jackie Toledo, in Hillsborough’s District 60, Linda Chaney in Pinellas’ District 69 and Fiona McFarland in Sarasota’s District 72.
Andrew Learned kept Hillsborough District 59 in Democrat hands with a narrow win over Republican Michael Owen, 51 to 49 percent.
In the state Senate, Republican Joe Gruters, a Sarasota CPA, retained his District 23 seat with 57 percent of the vote, defeating Democrat Katherine Norman. District 23 covers Sarasota and parts of Charlotte counties.
Florida’s secret weapons were @ChrisSprowls, @WiltonSimpson and @RonDeSantisFl. A great team victory and red wave election. @FloridaGOP https://t.co/AsfFX2lNa4
— Joe Gruters (@JoeGruters) November 4, 2020
Gruters won the seat in a special election two years ago after Greg Steube resigned to run for Congress.
Danny Burgess, R-Zephyrhills, topped Democrat Kathy Lewis in District 20, which covers portions of Pasco, Hillsborough and Polk; and Jim Boyd, R-Bradenton gained 61 percent of the vote against Anthony "Tony" Eldon in in District 21, which represents east Hillsborough and Manatee.
The other local Senate seat, for District 19, was retained by Tampa Democrat Darryl Rouson, who cruised by no-party candidate Christina Paylan. He represents south Hillsborough and parts of Pinellas.
Sprowls and designated Senate President Wilton Simpson, who represents the 10th district (Citrus, Hernando, Pasco), gives the Bay area a large voice in the upcoming session.
Congratulations goes to you and your team Speaker-Designate @ChrisSprowls. Great things ahead for Florida!
— Wilton Simpson (@WiltonSimpson) November 4, 2020
State Senate
(In districts serving the greater Tampa Bay area)
District 19
Paylan, Christina (NPA)— 31.32%
Rouson, Darryl Ervin (DEM) — *Incumbent- 68.68%
District 21
Boyd, Jim (REP)— 61.13%
Eldon, Anthony “Tony” DEM-- 38.87%
District 23
Gruters, Joe (REP) *Incumbent- 57.4%
Kaplan, Robert (NPA)- 2.01%
Norman, Katherine (DEM)- 40.6%
State House of Representatives
District 32
Dukes, Stephanie L. (DEM) — 44.25%
Sabatini, Anthony (REP) *Incumbent — 55.75%
District 33
Hage, Brett T. (REP) *Incumbent- 70.44%
Melvin, Mamie "Dee" (DEM)- 29.56%
District 34
Gosai, Dushyant Jethagir (DEM)- 24.87%
Massullo Jr, Ralph E. (REP) *Incumbent- 75.13%
District 35
Ingoglia, Blaise (REP) *Incumbent- 64.40%
Laufenberg, Keith G. (DEM)- 35.60%
District 36
Endonino, Daniel (DEM)- 36.55%
Mariano, Amber (REP) *Incumbent- 63.45%
District 37
Garcia, Tammy (DEM)- 37.10%
Zika, Ardian (REP) *Incumbent- 62.90%
District 38
Maggard, Randy (REP) *Incumbent- 58.72%
Staver, Brian (DEM)- 41.28%
District 39
Cause, Chris (DEM)- 37.58%
Tomkow, Josie (REP) *Incumbent- 62.42%
District 40
Barrow, Jan (DEM) -- 39.58%
Burton, Colleen (REP) *Incumbent -- 57.00%
Michie, Emily (NPA) -- 3.42%
District 41
Killebrew, Sam (REP) *Incumbent -- 53.55%
West, Jared (DEM) -- 46.45%
District 42
Cady, Barbara Ann (DEM) — 44.95%
Hawkins, Fred (REP) — 51.96%
Sanchez, Leroy (NPA) — 3.09%
District 55
Hensley, Jacob (WRI) — .13%
Tripp, Linda (DEM) — 31.75%
Tuck, Kaylee (REP) — 68.12%
District 56
Bell, Melony (REP) *Incumbent -- 67.5%
Davis, James (DEM) -- 32.5%
District 57
Beltran, Mike (REP) *Incumbent -- 54.48%
Hottenstein, Scott "Mr. H" (DEM) -- 45.52%
District 58
McClure, Lawrence (REP) *Incumbent -- 55.85%
Townsend Jr, Cleo L. "CL" (DEM) -- 44.15%
District 59
Learned, Andrew (DEM) -- 50.62%
Owen, Michael (REP) -- 49.38%
District 60
Jenkins, Julie (DEM) -- 45.68%
Toledo, Jackie (REP) *Incumbent -- 54.32%
District 61
Hart, Dianne "Ms. Dee" (DEM) *Incumbent - won
District 62
Rodriguez-Person, Laurie (NPA) -- 4.74%
Urbina Capo, Angel S. (REP) -- 37.72%
Valdes, Susan L. (DEM) *Incumbent -- 57.54%
District 63
Driskell, Fentrice (DEM) *Incumbent - won
District 64
Koster, Traci (REP)-- 55.73%
Harrington, Jessica (DEM)-- 44.27%
District 65
Johnson, Kelly (DEM)-- 38.85%
Sprowls, Chris (REP) *Incumbent-- 61.15%
District 66
DiCeglie, Nick (REP) *Incumbent-- 58.58%
Plantamura, Patricia M. (DEM)-- 41.42%
District 67
Douglas, Dawn (DEM)-- 42.94%
Latvala, Chris (REP) *Incumbent-- 57.06%
District 68
Diamond, Ben (DEM) *Incumbent-- 53.84%
Tito, Matt (REP)-- 46.16%
District 69
Chaney, Linda (REP)-- 52.38%
Webb, Jennifer N. (DEM) *Incumbent-- 47.62%
District 70
Rayner, Michele K. (DEM) -- won
District 71
Mele, Andy (DEM)-- 42.07%
Robinson, Will (REP) *Incumbent-- 57.93%
District 72
Buckman, Drake (DEM)-- 45.33%
McFarland, Fiona (REP)-- 54.67%
District 73
Fairey, David Reeves (DEM) -- 35.66%
Gregory, Tommy (REP) *Incumbent -- 64.36%
District 74
Buchanan, James (REP) *Incumbent-- 61.99%
Stortstrom, Lisa (DEM)-- 38.01%
County By County Results
Pasco | Hillsborough | Manatee | Sarasota | Pinellas | Polk | Hernando | Citrus | Sumter | Highlands | DeSoto | Charlotte | Hardee