ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. — It appears voters took their concerns about St. Johns County growing too fast to the voting booth Tuesday.
In the race for County Commissioner, District 4, Krista Keating-Joseph is leading the race against incumbent Jeremiah Blocker, but just barely.
Keating-Joseph ended the night with 50.2 percent of the vote and Blocker had 49.8 percent. Less than a half percentage point between them.
This may call for a machine recount.
According to St. Johns County's Supervisor of Elections, 366 mail-in ballots have not been counted yet. That may be enough to change this race's outcome because 188 votes separated Blocker from Keating-Joseph when all precincts had reported.
Keating-Joseph ran on a platform to slow the pace of development and new home construction in St. Johns County.
And this sentiment seems to have resonated with voters.
Concerns about excessive development were also the focus of the Florida senate race between incumbent Travis Hutson and Gerry James.
Hutson won in St. Johns County, but just barely. He works for one of the biggest developers in St. Johns County and in northeast Florida.
Meanwhile, his opponent, James, ran on the notion of slowing over-development. Among St. Johns County voters, James lost by only about 230 votes at the end of the night (not including the 366 uncounted mail-in ballots).
Hutson was the big winner in the other counties in that district, resulting in an overall win for the Florida senate seat.