Bay area residents flocked to the polls Tuesday for primary Election Day.

There were a wide variety of races, from federal to state and, of course, county-by-county campaigns that we recapped below.

9:45 p.m.

Sen. Marco Rubio criticized Democrats and his newly-minted challenger, U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy in Rubio's acceptance speech.

"I was prepared to become a private citizen and not just prepared to be so, but I was excited about what that meant... time with our family and other opportunities," Rubio said.

"But I just couldn't be at peace with the idea that we were going to not just potentially lose the senate seat, but lose the balance of power in this critical moment in our nation's history."

8:55 p.m.

Orange-Osceola County State Attorney Jeff Ashton has been defeated by challenger Aramis Ayala in the Democratic primary.

Ayala beat Ashton, 57 percent to 43 percent. Ayala faces only a write-in candidate in November.

Ashton, the incumbent, is best known for unsuccessfully prosecuting Casey Anthony.

8:50 p.m.

Amendment 4 -- the Solar Device Tax Exemption, has been approved, according to the Associated Press. The measure was approved by a 73 percent vote. More than 1.8 million voted yes. More Florida state races

8:45 p.m.

Patrick Murphy thanked supporters as he advanced to face Marco Rubio in November. "I know that Florida is ready for a senator that works for them, who is always going to put them first," Murphy said.

Murphy lambasted Rubio's record in the Senate, particularly his attendance record, which suffered during his presidential run. Murphy also criticized Rubio's recent statement that it was tough to commit to a six-year Senate term.

"I've got two words for you, Senator -- I can," Murphy said.

8:30 p.m.

Republican Wayne Liebnitzky defeated Wanda Rentas (68 percent to 32 percent) to win the District 9 primary. Darren Soto was leading Dena Grayson in the Democratic primary.

In District 10, Democrat Val Demings defeated her closest challenger, Geraldine Thompson, and two others. In District 11, Republican Daniel Webster was leading Justin Grabelle.

Republican David Jolly was the District 13 winner, beating Mark Bircher. The District 16 primary winners were Vern Buchanan (R) and Jan Schneider (D). | More Florida state results

8:05 p.m.

Sen. Marco Rubio is the winner of the Republican primary for his Senate seat, according to the Associated Press. He beat two candidates, including Tampa builder Carlos Beruff. Rubio decided to enter the race after losing the presidential nomination. 

Rubio will face Democrat Patrick Murphy in November. Murphy scored 61 percent of the votes in Tuesday's primary, with Alan Grayson second at 16 percent.

Meanwhile, in the U.S. House District 13 race, Republican David Jolly defeated challenger Mark Bircher with 75 percent of the vote. Jolly, the incumbent, received more than 40,400 votes. | More Florida state results

PINELLAS COUNTY

In Pinellas County, Eileen Long won the School Board District 4 race, defeating Ken Peluso in a narror win. Long had 51 percent of the vote, and Peluso had 49.

Republican Mike Twitty won the Propery Appraiser race, defeating Jim Frishe by a 60 percent to 40 percent margin.

Dora Komninos won the County Judge Group 8 vote. In Group 9, Myriam Irizarry and Dwight Dudley were separated by less than 1,300 votes with 99 precincts reporting. Irizarry received 78,148 votes, and Dudley had 76,889.

Jason Latimer, the communications director at the Supervisor of Elections Office, said turnout was about 25 percent by 4 p.m. Turnout by that time had already surpassed voter turnout in the 2012 and 2014 primary elections. | More Pinellas County results

MANATEE COUNTY

In Manatee County, Priscilla Trace was declared the winner of the GOP Commission District 1 race, defeating Ron Reagan and Corie Holmes.

Republican Vanessa Baugh won the Commission District 5 decision, beating Kathleeen Grant with 53 percent of the vote.

Supervisor of Elections Mike Bennett said Tuesday afternoon that the 23 percent voter turnout was about what was expected by that hour. He said the office was most impressed with the votes that came in by mail, with over a 50 percent return. | More Manatee County results

HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY

In Hillsborough County, GOP candidate Tim Schock defeated Jim Norman, 62 percent to 38 percent, in the Commission District 6 race. On the Democratic side, Pat Kemp defeated three challengers, creating a Schock vs. Kemp showdown in November.

Susan Valdes won the School Board District 1 race, Cindy Stuart took District 3, and Cathy James had a narrow lead (23 percent to 20 percent) over Lynn Gray with 99 percent of precincts reporting.

Miriam Valenburg took the decision in the County Judge Group 10 race.

About 81,800 mail-in votes were submitted in Hillsborough County. Turnout by Tuesday afternoon had already passed the primary turnout in 2012 and 2014. There are about 100,000 more registered voters than in 2012, officials said. | More Hillsborough County results

PASCO COUNTY

In Pasco County, Republican Ron Oakley was the Commission District 1 winner, defeating Debbie Wells and Rachel O'Connor. In Commission District 3, Kathryn Starkey beat Randy Evans, with 56 percent of the vote. And in Commission District 5, Republican Jack Mariano garnered 52 percent of the vote for a narrow victory over Chris Cooley.

Gary Joiner won the property appraiser race, with 56 percent of the vote to Ted Schrader's 44. Debra Roberts won the County Judge Group 4 race, defeating two challengers.

Shirley Anderson, the county's supervisor of elections, said Tuesday afternoon that everything had gone smoothly. About 28,000 mail-in votes were submitted. | More Pasco County results

POLK COUNTY

In the Polk County Commission District 3 race, Republican Bill Braswell garnered 66 percent of the vote, to J.C. Martin's 34 percent.

Lori Cunningham won the School Board District 2 race, while Billy Townsend (District 1) and Becky Troutman (District 4) had commanding leads with 99 percent of precincts reporting.

Susan Barber was the winner in the County Judge Group 8 race.

By Tuesday afternoon, officials had predicted turnout would be about 20 percent. No problems were reported. | More Polk County results

CITRUS COUNTY

In Citrus County, Republican Michael Prendergrast took 53 percent of the vote, defeating Chuck Kanehl (34 percent) and Steven Burch (13 percent).

Republican Jeff Kinnard bested Rhonda Distel in the Commission District 1 race, while Brian Coleman defeated two challengers in the Commission District 5 race.

In the School Board Referendum vote, 55 percent of voters said yes to the measure. By Tuesday afternoon, turnout was what election leaders expected. There were more than 15,000 mail-in votes. | More Citrus County results

HERNANDO COUNTY

In Hernando County, Nick Nicholson won the Republican primary for Commission District 1, defeating Michael LaRocca and Joe Swilley. Steve Champion won the Republican primary for Commission District 5, defeating Dave Russell.

Linda Prescott took the School Board District 2 victory, while Gus Guadagnino had a 10 percent lead with 99 percent of the precincts reporting.

Kristie Ruppe cruised to a victory in the County Court Judge primary. | More Hernando County results