Former state Representative Loranne Ausley won a hard-fought race for a Florida senate seat.
Ausley, a Democrat, defeated Republican challenger and political newcomer Marva Preston winning more than 53 percent of the vote in state Senate District 3.
“I spent the day yesterday with my husband and son doing a tour of the 11 counties of this district, showing them the beauty and diversity of this district,” Ausley said on election night. “More than anything, I’m really excited about the opportunity to continue my service, standing up for children and state employees, and our public education system – building on the work I’ve done in the house and looking forward to doing that in the senate.”
Now with a new set of colleagues, senator-elect Ausley detailed some of her first priorities in the Florida Senate.
“We’ve got a lot of challenges facing us. There’s a lot of people hurting. We’re in the middle of a pandemic and a very serious economic crisis, and we’ve got a lot of work to be done.” Ausley told WFSU. “We’ve got a broken unemployment system, there are a lot of Floridians that are out of work, and we need to come together to figure out how to address these challenges.”
Ausley won more than 62 percent of the vote in Leon County, and 66 percent in Gadsden, which helped her across the finish line as Preston picked up more votes in the other nine rural counties in the district.
People in North Florida likely saw attack ads from the candidates blanketing primetime television slots. Ausley says despite the heated nature of the race, she wants even those who voted against her to feel represented.
“The bottom line is that I am looking to be a senator for every single person in Senate District 3,” Ausley said.
Preston did not return calls for comment on election night.
