JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Voters across northeast Florida turned back challenges all but one incumbent sheriff and supported Angela Corey by a nearly 2-to-1 margin in her race against Jay Plotkin to be the next state attorney for Duval, Clay and Nassau counties.

Two hours after the polls closed, after earning 65 percent of the vote in the hard-fought race to replace the retiring Harry Shorstein, Corey appeared before supporters a a victory rally.

Corey called it an unbelievable grassroots victory.

"We think that this is the way the community is saying they want their state attorney and their sheriff and everyone in law enforcement to get along to fight this battle against crime," Corey said.

Just to the south, in the 7th Circuit, challenger R.J. Larizza defeated 16-year incumbent State Attorney John Tanner. Larizza -- an attorney in private practice in St. Augustine -- won 52 percent of the vote in Flagler, Putnam, St. Johns and Volusia counties.

In more decisive upset, Putnam County Sheriff Dean Kelly was soundly defeated by challenger Jeff Hardy. Voters will choose between Hardy and a Republican challenger in November.

4 Of 5 Jacksonville Races Go To Runoffs

With five candidates in both special elections to fill the two open Jacksonville City Council seats, it's no surprise both will be settled with runoffs in November.

In the at-large Group 2 seat, former councilmen Dick Brown and John Crescimbeni each got 25 percent of the vote in the five-way race.

With 28 and 27 percent respectivaly, Reggie Brown and Joe Clements II were the top two candidates in the District 10 council seat.

Two of the three Duval County School Board races will also be settled by runoff.

Former board member and state Rep. Stan Jordon got 39 percent of the vote in District 1 and Ken Manuel's 29 percent put him in second place. They'll meet in November.

In District 3, W.C. Gentry, with 47 percent, and Jack Daniels, with 31 percent, will make the runoff.

The only absolute voter was Tommy Hazouri. The former mayor and incumbent in the District 7 seat got 69 percent of the vote Tuesday over challenger John Turner.

State House Primary Winners All Have November Challenges

The Jacksonville district council seat was open because Mia Jones resigned to run for Florida House District 14. With 86 percent of the votes counted, Jones had an 8-point lead over former Pat Lockett-Felder, another former councilwoman. Jones will face Republican Sarah Lovett in November.

Janet Adkins won the Republican primary for House District 12 and will face two write-in candidates in November.

Former councilman Lake Ray won 53 percent of the Republican vote in a three-way primary for House District 17. Ray will face Democrat Regina Young and write-in candidate John Rosso III in November.

Ronald Renuart won 56 percent in the House District 18 primary against former councilwoman Elaine Brown and Jack Capra. Renuart will face Democrat Dave Smith and independent candidate Daniel Walsh in November.

With 42 percent of the vote, Charles Van Zant won a three-way Republican primary race for House District 21. The winner will face Democrat Linda Myers in November.

Voters Give Victories To All But 1 Sheriff

With Clay County results nearly complete, Sheriff Rick Beseler had 55 percent of the vote, with former FDLE agent Mike Taylor was in second place and former Navy security officer Gary Newman brining up the rear. With no Democrat in the race, the voters have given Beseler another term.

"I've been around Clay County all my life and this was the most negative campaign that I've ever seen," Beseler said. "The message to the public and to future candidates should be that negative campaigning doesn't work. In this case, it was a landslide victory and I think the public showed they didn't appreciate it."

Putnam County's Democratic voters turned out their sheriff, Dean Kelly, voting for challenger Jeff Hardy by a margin of 63-to-37. Hardy will face Republican Thomas Williams in November.

Nassau County Sheriff Tommy Seagraves received 56 percent of the vote in a four-way Republican primary, but faces a November race against Democrat Jim Coe.

Columbia County Sheriff Bill Gootee got the most votes, although with only 44 percent of the votes in the four-way nonpartisan race, he'll face a runoff with Mark Hunter in November.

With 88 percent of the vote, Union County voters overwhelmingly returned Sheriff Jerry Whitehead to office.

Bradford County Sheriff Bob Milner, who did not seek re-election, will be replaced by one of the two primary winners: Democrat Gordon Smith or Republican David Barnes.

Turnout Lighter Than Expected

Candidates hope that the lingering effects of Tropical Storm Fay -- which interrupted early voting for a couple of days -- did not keep people away from the polls. Early indicates were that the turnout was very light.

Duval County Supervisor of Elections Jerry Holland said it appeared turnout would barely make 20 percent -- about 5 percent less than he predicted. Turnout might be slightly higher in Clay and other counties where races for sheriff have created interest. There were no statewide races on the ballot, but several contested seats in the state Legislature, as well as local races for city council, county commission, school board and other offices.

In many races across the region, there was no Democratic opponent in November, so voters of all parties could vote Tuesday and the winner takes the seat.