Amy Foster, Darden Rice win Primary, both head to general election

With nearly all precincts reporting, out St. Pete City Council candidates Amy Foster and Darden Rice trounced their opponents in the primary election on Aug. 27 and will move on to the Nov. 5 general election in their respective districts.

Early results in the District 4 council race showed Rice leading the pack with almost 46% of the votes, followed by Carolyn Fries with nearly 27%, Dr. David McKalip with 24%, and Richard Eldridge with almost 5%. If the numbers hold true, Rice will face Fries in November’s general election.

Foster’s commanding lead in the District 8 race garnered more than 56% of the vote, followed distantly by Steve Galvin with 19%. Alex Duensing finished with about 13% of the vote and Robert Davis trailed with 11%.

In District 6, incumbent Karl Nurse took the most votes with an overwhelming 70% of the vote, far outpacing Sharon Russ, who gained 19% of the vote. Trevor Mallory trailed with only 10% of the vote, meaning the November race will pit Nurse against Russ.

Rice, Foster and Nurse were all endorsed by the Stonewall Democrats of Pinellas County, as was mayoral candidate Rick Kriseman, who also survived the primary and will face incumbent mayor Bill Foster Nov. 5.

Bill Foster, no relation to Amy Foster, led the race with 41% of the vote. Kriseman had 39% at press time. Kathleen Ford trailed with 19% of the vote.

Bill Foster, who was meeting with supporters at the Midtown Sundries Sports Bar in downtown St. Petersburg, said he was taking the early results as a sign that voters are generally happy with the direction the city is headed.

Of his likely opponent, Foster said, “I’m going to run on my record. I expect him to run on his.”

While primary voter turnout is typically light, many expected a stronger turnout because of the pier controversy, a ballot referendum that gave voters a chance to keep or cancel plans to build the structure known as “The Lens.” Early results show voters overwhelmingly rejected the proposed structure with more than 63% of the vote, meaning plans to replace the now-closed pier will return to the drawing board.

No precinct in the city reported more than 50% voter turnout during the primary election.

Early voting was higher than normal, however, with a record 29,239 residents voting ahead if time via absentee ballots.