Turnout stood at 24% by 5 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 18, with two hours of voting remaining in St. Johns County's primary, and the voters who did show up arrived with vastly different levels of preparation, according to precinct interviews by the St. Johns Citizen.

Some had researched candidates for hours. Others left local races blank or picked names they remembered from yard signs.

The Citizen visited five precincts and spoke with dozens of voters during the primary. The conversations are not a scientific survey, but they sketch the range of engagement in an election that handed commission seats outright to two slow-growth candidates.

Growth and Development Dominated Voter Conversations

Richard Brosnahan, a network engineer from World Golf Village, said he voted for Will McMullan in the District 2 County Commission race because of McMullan's emphasis on "smart growth."

"Development, I think, is a big issue right now in our area — and infrastructure," Brosnahan said. "We don't have the infrastructure to fill the development."

Brosnahan said he also backed District 4 incumbent Krista Keating-Joseph, citing her first-term record. Three other voters declined to name their picks but said their commission votes were meant to "slow the growth." One unnamed man said he voted for Martin Pyszczymuka and Keating-Joseph to "stop socialism."

Both Keating-Joseph and Pyszczymuka won Tuesday. Keating-Joseph took 46.94% in District 4, and Pyszczymuka led a four-candidate District 2 field with 35.09%, according to unofficial results reported by the Citizen. Because no other-party candidates qualified, both races were universal primaries decided outright on Aug. 18, with no November runoff.

Not Every Voter Came Prepared

Alexis Gentry, a registered Democrat, said she voted for Heather Brofford in District 2 and James Galloway in District 4 because they aligned most closely with her values. The universal-primary format allowed Democrats and unaffiliated voters to cast ballots in the Republican contests.

But several voters acknowledged leaving races blank or choosing candidates based largely on name recognition. In the District 1 School Board race, one woman said she had been torn between Kevin Allen and longtime board member Bev Slough before Slough's experience won her over. RiverTown resident Tado Odusanya also voted for Slough, citing her visibility in the community.

Light Foot Traffic Marked Some Precincts Throughout the Day

Activity was sparse at points. Switzerland Community Church went more than 15 minutes without a single voter arriving at one stretch, and between noon and 1 p.m. the precinct averaged roughly one voter every three minutes.

The St. Johns County Supervisor of Elections posted on X ahead of the vote that county primary turnout averages below 30%. Recent cycles came in at 25.14% in 2024, 28.8% in 2022 and 29.5% in 2020. Tuesday's 24% figure, measured two hours before polls closed, tracked near the low end of that range.

Both wins are expected to strengthen the slow-growth bloc on a commission frequently divided over development and infrastructure.