Two state House races, one state Senate contest and a single judicial election from Tuesdays primary are headed into weekend recounts.
Secretary of State Ken Detzner called for the recounts for House Districts 55 and 107, Senate District 27 and the 4th Judicial Circuit Court Group 1 seat as the contests were decided by a margin of 0.5 percent or less of the votes cast.
The county canvassing boards have until 3 p.m. on Sunday to complete machine recounts.
If the machine recount indicates a candidate was defeated by 0.25 percent or less, a manual recount of overvotes and undervotes will be required.
In the District 55 battle between Republicans Cary Pigman of Avon Park and former representative Randy Johnson of Sebring, only 31 votes separated the candidates, with Pigman ahead 5,979 to 5,948 when the results were tabulated Tuesday night.
Pigman dominated the voting in Highlands County, while Johnson had majorities in Glades, Okeechobee and St. Lucie counties.
In Miami-Dade County, Rep. Barbara Watson, D-Miami Gardens, finished ahead of Rep. John Julien, D-North Miami Beach, 5,284 to 5,258, when the still unofficial numbers were posted on Tuesday.
In a Democratic primary for the new District 27 Senate seat in Palm Beach County, state Rep. Jeff Clemens, D-Lake Worth, defeated Mack Bernard, D-West Palm Beach by 34 votes -- 12,150 to 12,116.
In the judicial contest in Clay, Duval and Nassau counties, Brian Davis received 50.33 percent of the vote, well ahead of three other challengers. However, because of the rule that a candidate must win by more than 0.5 percent of the total votes cast, the machine recount is required.
Davis topped his nearest competitor by 36,170, but surpassed the 50 percent mark against the three challengers combined by 445 votes.
Reach Jim Turner at jturner@sunshinestatenews.com or at (772) 215-9889.
