Martin County voters settled several local races in the Aug. 18 primary, while three contests will continue into the November general election.
In the Martin County School Board District 1 race, incumbent Christia Li Roberts will face challenger Cherie White in the Nov. 3 general election after neither candidate received more than 50% of the vote. Roberts received 49.69%, White received 26.98% and Charles Winn received 23.33%, according to final, unofficial results. A school board candidate must receive 50% plus one vote to win.
Roberts, 68, and White, 62, both have careers in public service.
In District 3, incumbent Jen Russell defeated challenger Cacqueline Clarke with 63.70% of the vote to Clarke's 36.30%. Russell's priorities include fiscal responsibility, academic performance, workforce pathways and school safety. She also received the endorsement of Gov. Ron DeSantis.
The District 4 school board race also will go to a runoff. Incumbent Amy Pritchett received 42.76% of the vote, while Anthony "Tony" Anderson received 41.37% and Milly Blanco received 15.87%.
Anderson, 69, previously served on the school board from 2018 to 2022 before being defeated by Pritchett, 70, by fewer than 350 votes. Pritchett and Anderson will face off Nov. 3.
In Stuart, incumbent Campbell Rich narrowly defeated challenger Will Laughlin in the City Commission Group 1 race, receiving 50.25% of the vote to Laughlin's 49.75%. The 0.49 percentage-point margin triggers a recount under state law because the difference was less than 0.5%.
Laughlin is a member of the city's Community Redevelopment Board.
Former Stuart Mayor Merritt Matheson won the Group 3 commission seat, defeating Derreck Ogden 58.2% to 41.8%. Matheson previously served on the commission from 2018 to 2022 before being defeated by Christopher Collins. Collins resigned in April to run for the Martin County Commission and was elected.
Matheson's priorities include environmental stewardship, good governance, including term limits, and quality of life.
In the Group 5 race, Commissioner Eula Clarke, 69, was re-elected after receiving 52.1% of the vote. Kylie Micchie received 15.8% and Dayne Oldenborg received 32.1%.
Clarke, a 15-year veteran of the commission who was first elected in 2011, has listed protecting the waterfront, affordable homes and investment in downtown Stuart among her priorities.
Three Indiantown Village Council races were also decided.
Christa Miley defeated incumbent Carmine Dipaolo and Octavius Thompson in Seat 3, receiving 39.4% of the vote to Dipaolo's 32.1% and Thompson's 8.5%. Miley is a correctional officer at the Okeechobee Correctional Institution and has served on the Planning, Zoning and Appeals Board. Her priorities include smart growth, infrastructure accountability and public safety.
Anthony Dowling defeated incumbent Angelina Perez and Ana Farias in Seat 4 with 51.6% of the vote. Perez received 32.1% and Farias received 16.3%.
Dowling, 39, is an Army veteran who helped incorporate Indiantown when it became the state's newest municipality in 2017. He was elected to the first village council in 2018. His priorities include pushing back against data centers, protecting and improving water quality and creating jobs in Indiantown.
Janet Hernandez defeated incumbent Karen Onsager in Seat 5, receiving 63.7% of the vote to Onsager's 36.3%. Hernandez, 35, also served on the first Indiantown Council in 2018 and earned a master's degree in public administration in 2025. Her priorities include governmental transparency, infrastructure improvements and smart growth.
On the Martin County Commission, Christopher Collins defeated Susan O'Rourke and Althea Wiley in District 2. Collins received 49% of the vote, O'Rourke received 40.3% and Wiley received 10.7%.
Incumbent Stacey Hetherington did not seek re-election.
Collins stepped down as Stuart's mayor in April to pursue the county commission seat. He had filed a lawsuit seeking to have O'Rourke's name removed from the ballot, alleging she did not live in Martin County when she filed. The lawsuit was ultimately decided in O'Rourke's favor.
Collins began his public service career in 2022 when he was elected to the Stuart City Commission. He will serve a four-year term as a county commissioner. His priorities include slow growth, clean water and low taxes.
In District 4, 24-year incumbent Sarah Heard defeated John Dial and John "Kaz" Kazanjian. Heard received 47.5% of the vote, Dial received 44.9% and Kazanjian received 7.5%.
Heard, 71, has pointed to her 24-year voting record and listed slow development, clean water and low taxes among her priorities.
In the Democratic primary for U.S. House District 21, Hobe Sound resident James Martin defeated Bernard Taylor by a narrow margin. Martin received 50.4% of the vote to Taylor's 49.6%.
Martin will face five-term Republican incumbent U.S. Rep. Brian Mast, a Fort Pierce resident, in the Nov. 3 general election. Mast was first elected in 2016.
Martin, 33, served in the U.S. Coast Guard and was born and raised in Martin County. Mast, 46, served in the U.S. Army for more than 12 years and earned the Bronze Star Medal, Army Commendation Medal for Valor, Purple Heart Medal and Defense Meritorious Service Medal.
Mast's priorities include job and economic growth, national defense, increased transparency and reducing spending and taxes. Martin's priorities include affordability and the cost of living, clean water, governmental transparency and health care.
Voters will decide the District 21 representative in the general election.