Click here to see the complete election results from the Florida primary.
St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office candidate Richard Del Toro has overwhelmingly won the Republican primary race for sheriff.
With 60 of 60 precincts reporting, Del Toro garnered 16,816 votes to current Sheriff Keith Pearson's 9,141 votes and Preston M. DiFrancesco's 1,095 votes.
"This community delivered an indictment on corrupt [former St. Lucie County Sheriff] Ken Mascara and shady Sheriff Keith Pearson," Del Toro said at a watch party. "To all the employees and the deputies at the St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office, the nightmare and hostage crisis ended tonight, folks. So many better days are ahead."
WATCH BELOW: Republican Richard Del Toro claims victory in St. Lucie Sheriff's Office primary
After thanking friends and family, Del Toro turned his focus to the race in the fall, where he'll take on Democrat Steve Giordano.
He said his first mission was to unify the county's Republican party after a bitter primary. Most local Republican officeholders were at his victory party.
"I'm to unify the party, but more importantly, unify this community in a big way," Del Toro said.
Del Toro said he raised and spent more than $600,000 in the primary and is now starting from scratch to pay for his fall campaign.
Pearson conceded the race and congratulated Del Toro on his win, releasing the following statement on Facebook:
"I would like to thank my dedicated supporters, friends, and family throughout this election process and I congratulate Rich Del Toro on his victory. I also look forward to keeping the Sheriff’s Office in Republican hands this November."
Pearson was appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis in December after Mascara's sudden resignation.
Within days of his appointment, he announced he'd be running for sheriff. However, the St. Lucie County Republican Party criticized the decision over concerns Pearson was involved in a Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigation into a ghost campaign in 2020. No criminal charges were filed in the case.
Pearson has also been criticized by a U.S. attorney, state attorney and a circuit judge for his social media videos and how he treated suspects in those videos.
The public defender is also still reviewing cases that Pearson was involved in, telling WPTV anchor Meghan McRoberts that he's accused of giving false statements in a drug trafficking case- and his credibility could be questioned in other cases.
DeSantis has never explained how Pearson became his choice to fill Mascara's vacancy. The governor endorsed 54 sheriffs running for election this primary, however Pearson was not one of them.
Republican Party leadership will concede this has been a very divided time for the party and hope that changes after Tuesday night.
No Republican has been elected St. Lucie County sheriff since 1996.
Watch Steven Giordano's interview with WPTV below:
Watch Richard Del Toro's interview with WPTV below:
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