How did St. Johns County vote on marijuana legalization, abortion rights and a hike on property taxes?

St. Johns County residents flocked to the polls Tuesday to cast ballots on a range of polarizing races and issues.

As expected, Donald Trump was the resounding local victor in Tuesday’s presidential race with 128,514 votes compared to 66,669 for Kamala Harris — a margin of 65% to 34%.

Trump announced that his campaign manager, Susan Wiles, who is a longtime Ponte Vedra Beach resident, will be his next White House chief of staff.

Republican Senate incumbent Rick Scott routed Democratic challenger Debbie Mucarsel-Powell by similar margins in both vote count and percentage.

St. Johns County residents overwhelmingly passed a new 1 mill property tax rate increase to boost local teacher salaries and aid in recruitment and retention. A total of  127,518 voted for the measure while 59,465 were against, a difference of 68% to 32%.

The hike will begin on July 1, 2025, and last for four years. According to the district, the annual increase would be roughly $325 a year for a home with an assessed value of $350,000 and $625 for a $650,000 residence.

County voters also passed a measure to maintain a half-cent sales tax, which generated $37 million last year, to fund new school construction and improvements.

Locals were evenly split on a proposed statewide marijuana legalization law with 95,296 opposed and 99,07251 in favor, a difference of 49% to 51%.

The measure required 60% of voters to pass statewide and ultimately failed with 55.9% in favor.

St. Johns County voters were also evenly divided on Amendment 4, which would have allowed abortions in Florida up to the point of “fetal viability.”

98,131 St. Johns County voters were in favor of the amendment and 95,826 opposed.

The measure ultimately failed after failing to reach a 60% threshold.

As such, a law passed by Gov. Ron DeSantis that banned abortions after six weeks will remain in place.