Races set for Florida attorney general, agriculture commissioner

State rep to face former judge, another to take on attorney

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Democratic and Republican primaries for attorney general were won by two candidates from the Tampa area.

State Rep. Sean Shaw won his primary over Tampa attorney Ryan Torrens, while former judge and prosecutor Ashley Moody won the GOP nomination.
    
Both primaries were particularly nasty - and there almost wasn't a Democratic primary.

Democratic state Rep. Sean Shaw has more money and establishment support, but he filed a lawsuit to get Torrens off the ballot.

Torrens responded by suing Shaw for libel. Just four days before the primary, a judge agreed that Torrens used an illegal donation to pay the qualifying fee to get on the ballot, and ruled that no votes for him should be counted.

But an appeals judge put a stay on the decision on Monday, keeping Torrens' campaign alive.
    
On the Republican side, auto-dealer lawyer and state Rep. Frank White ran as a Trump-style conservative, while Moody ran on her experience in court. White attacked Moody for suing Trump over a failed Tampa development project, while Moody has attacked White as a car salesman turned politician.

Agriculture commissioner

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A Republican state representative from Fort Myers will face a Democratic lawyer from South Florida to become Florida's next agriculture commissioner.
    
Matt Caldwell defeated fellow GOP candidates Baxter Troutman, Denise Grimsley and Mike McCalister.
    
Nikki Fried won the Democrats nomination, defeating Jeff Porter and Roy David Walker.
    
The 37-year old Caldwell, whose family has a history in farming, was first elected to the Florida House of Representatives in 2010 but is unable to run again due to term limits.
    
The 40-year old Fried helped lobby for medical marijuana legislation two years ago. Last week Wells Fargo shut down Fried's campaign account after she had "funds received from lobbyists from the medical marijuana industry."