Republican Sydney Gruters won Florida's 16th Congressional District seat on Nov. 3, succeeding retiring Rep. Vern Buchanan in the district that covers Lakewood Ranch.

Gruters collected 175,512 votes, or 51.21%, to Democrat Kelly Kirschner's 160,942 votes, or 46.96%, according to unofficial results reported by Pulse of Manatee. Independent Mark Davis received 6,275 votes. The newly configured district includes Manatee, DeSoto and Hardee counties and portions of Sarasota, Pinellas and Polk counties.

The win was part of a clean Republican sweep across the Suncoast. But the margins told a more complicated story than the outcomes suggest, as first reported by WUSF.

Ballard holds on by 173 votes

The closest race landed in Manatee County Commission District 2. Republican incumbent Amanda Ballard held off Democrat Charles B. Smith Sr. by 173 votes, according to Pulse of Manatee's unofficial tally: 10,340 to 10,167. Smith, a Palmetto business owner who served as county commissioner from 2014 to 2018, trailed by just under one percentage point.

The results remain unofficial pending certification. First unofficial returns were due Nov. 7, and recounts may be required when margins meet statutory thresholds, according to Pulse of Manatee.

Smith spent $15,000 on his campaign, he told WUSF. Ballard raised more than $100,000, according to county campaign finance records cited in the same report.

"I feel good about my run," Smith said, according to WUSF.

McFarland, other Republicans win comfortably

Rep. Fiona McFarland, a Republican, won re-election to Florida House District 73 by about 7 percentage points. "It's been such a privilege to be Sarasota's voice in Tallahassee for the last six years," McFarland said, according to WUSF.

In the other Manatee County Commission contests, Republican Elizabeth Arnold defeated Democrat Sari Lindroos-Valimaki in District 1 with about 66% of the vote. Republican Tara Poulton won the District 6 at-large seat over Democrat Reggie Bellamy, 58% to 42%, replacing outgoing Commissioner Jason Bearden.

GOP commissioners backed Democrats

The Republican wins came despite an unusual election cycle. Two sitting Manatee County commissioners broke party lines to endorse Democratic candidates.

Commissioner George Kruse, co-chair of Republicans for Jolly, campaigned for both Democratic gubernatorial candidate David Jolly and Kirschner in the CD-16 race, WUSF reported. Commissioner Bob McCann endorsed Kirschner along with Democrats Bellamy and Smith for county commission seats.

Bearden, a conservative Republican who did not seek re-election, also backed Democratic commission candidates. In coverage published in September, Your Observer reported that Bearden asked Manatee voters to support Democrats in two commission races, saying he believed Floridians were "tired of political insiders having access that ordinary citizens don't have."

Their terms on the commission had been marked by blowback from Gov. Ron DeSantis' administration when they tried to implement regulations on development, according to WUSF.

Turnout surged, margins narrowed

Manatee County reported 183,179 ballots cast among 287,882 registered voters, a turnout of 63.63%, according to Pulse of Manatee. Sarasota County turnout exceeded 67%, the highest for a midterm there since at least 1998, according to archived Florida elections data cited by WUSF.

Democrats turned out at higher rates than Republicans across Sarasota, Manatee and DeSoto counties, WUSF reported. In Sarasota County, nearly 76% of registered Democrats voted compared to about 68% of registered Republicans.

In an election-night interview with WUSF, Kruse said the Republican Party should not sit comfortably. "These should not have been competitive," he said, referring to the gubernatorial and U.S. Senate races, both of which fell within 3 percentage points statewide.

Florida election officials will continue the canvassing and certification process for the Nov. 3 results.