MIAMI — Republican and Democratic voters in a sprawling, newly drawn congressional district that stretches across the Everglades, Central Broward County, Marco Island and Lake Okeechobee chose their candidates Tuesday to fight for the District 22 seat on the November ballot.

Republican Casey Askar, a businessman and U.S. Marine, and Democrat Pia Dandiya, a former high school principal, will face each other Nov. 3. Askar secured 33% of the vote, beating out a crowded field of six other Republicans, including Keiser University vice chancellor Belinda Keiser and fintech entrepreneur Michael Carbonara.

The Republican candidates dumped millions of dollars into campaigning in the gerrymandered coast-to-coast district, which includes Plantation, Coral Springs, Davie, Marco Island and Immokalee. Before the Republican-majority Florida Legislature redrew the state’s congressional maps, District 22 was a reliably Democratic stronghold that included Palm Beach County. Democrat U.S. Rep Lois Frankel, who is not seeking reelection, currently represents the area.

Republicans and Democrats alike see District 22 as a key race that may decide which party controls the House of Representatives.

National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Richard Hudson congratulated Askar on his win in a statement.

“A job creator, family man, and Marine veteran, Askar is ready to work with President Trump and House Republicans to deliver for the Sunshine State,” Hudson said. “Voters are fired up to send him to Washington, and they’ll resoundingly reject radical Democrat Pia Dandiya, who would be nothing more than a hyper-partisan radical fighting to hike taxes and push woke policies on Florida families.”

A poll from earlier this month showed the race between Keiser, Askar and Carbonara was virtually a three-way tie. In fact, 41.5% of likely Republican primary voters said they were undecided just over a week from Election Day, signaling that none of the candidates stood out to voters despite the millions poured into the race.

Carbonara raised about $6 million, loaning $3.77 million to himself. Keiser raised $3.21 million, with $3 million from herself. And Askar loaned $2.5 million to himself. Notably, Carbonara reported investing $2.2 million in cryptocurrencies, prompting questions of self-dealing because he used Ibanera, where he was once CEO, to process his transactions.

The Republican race was bitterly fought. Candidates launched attack ads, mailers and websites at each other, digging up as much dirt as possible. Keiser funded a website that slammed Askar and Carbonara for business dealings in Dubai. Super PAC American Pact is behind two sites that targeted candidates: one highlighted multiple lawsuits filed against Carbonara’s former fintech firm Ibanera and the other targeted Keiser for her previous Democratic donations and her university’s connections to China, Florida Politics reported.

In the weeks leading up to Tuesday’s election, online news articles about Carbonara and his ties to a controversial data center in Michigan were hit by bogus copyright claims that got dozens of stories scrubbed from the internet. Even the Sun Sentinel’s recent article about the bogus claims was hit by a bogus claim, a reporter said. Carbonara denies his campaign was involved in the complaints.

The Democratic nominee race was tame by comparison. Front-runner and former high school principal Dandiya easily beat Kaysia Earley, a Parkland attorney and nonprofit founder. Dandiya, who previously worked for Apple and was once appointed as a White House Fellow, raised about $2 million for her campaign. Dandiya won over 61% of the vote.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has already thrown its weight behind Dandiya to win the district that political analysts say favors Republicans.

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