Two Sarasota School Board members were handily re-elected in Tuesday's primary elections, a signal received by one of the winners that voters are satisfied with Common Core standards and district policies for education. "Our community supports quality higher education," said School Board member Shirley Brown, who was re-elected with 66.44 percent of the vote over challenger Helen Wolff. "They understood those higher standards are for our students to succeed."

The election was just one of many in the region on a day when voters weighed in on races for the Florida Legislature and the School Board and County Commission seats for Manatee and Sarasota.

Brown and colleague Jane Goodwin both coasted to their next terms, with Goodwin beating challenger Randy McLendon with 70.44 percent of the vote. A third seat is headed for a runoff, where Ken Marsh, a former director of long-term planning for the schools, had 40.64 percent of the vote compared to incumbent Bridget Ziegler, who was appointed by Gov. Rick Scott this year, who received 36.81 percent of the vote. Ziegler and Marsh eliminated challengers Paul Schafer and Velton Hodges.

"My support was just across the spectrum geographically and politically," said Marsh, who looks forward to the next stage of the campaign. Ziegler said she will continue running as the voice of parents. "That is what will be the biggest differentiation between the two of us," she said.

In the race for Florida House of Representatives District 74, an open seat, orthopedic surgeon Julio Gonzalez defeated former Florida Real Estate Commissioner Richard DeNapoli in the Republican primary, taking 57.03 percent of the vote in one of the most expensive elections in the state. Gonzalez faces only write-in opposition in November.

For Sarasota County Commission, Paul Caragiulo defeated Shannon Snyder in the race for the District 2 seat with 59.57 percent of the vote; both candidates were Sarasota City Commissioners seeking higher office. Caragiulo now faces independent Alexandra Coe and two write-in candidates in November. In the District 4 seat, former Planning Commissioner Alan Maio beat Council of Neighborhood Associations president Lourdes Ramirez with 69.56 percent of the vote. Maio will now face independent John Minder and Democrat Ray Porter in November.

"There is a whole other stage to get through," said Caragiulo. "I take that seriously. It is not superfluous and I know I have to run another race."

In Manatee County, the greatest bit of drama was surely the District 2 contest for Manatee County Commission. Palmetto City Commissioner Charles Smith, according to unofficial final results, led incumbent Michael Gallen by just five votes, 1,029 votes to 1,024 votes, in the Democratic primary. The contest had been closed to Democratic voters by a write-in candidate, which many believed would hurt Gallen. The close race is enough to trigger a recount.

But in District 4, Manatee County Commissioner Robin DiSabatino defeated challenger Tim Norwood in the Republican primary, taking 61.53 percent of the vote to beat the Tea Party activist.

Manatee School Board member Karen Carpenter beat challenger Frank Brunner to win re-election with 57.39 percent of the vote, and newcomer Charlie Kennedy with 50.52 percent beat Rodney Jones for an open seat on the board. But in District 5, incumbent Julie Aranibar heads to a runoff against Mary Cantrell. Aranibar and Cantrell pulled in 38.18 percent and 36.28 percent of the vote respectively, but they did eliminate James Golden and Les Nichols.

See More Election Coverage on SRQ Rattlebag