Results: Republican Laurel Lee, Florida's former secretary of state, defeats Democrat Alan Cohn in Florida's newest 15th Congressional District election

• Democrat Alan Cohn is a former award-winning journalist.
• Republican Laurel Lee is the former Florida secretary of state.

Republican Laurel Lee defeated Democrat Alan Cohn in Florida's newest congressional district, which was added based on 2020 Census results.

Polls closed in the state at 7 p.m. local time. Given the state has multiple timezones, the first polls closed at 7 p.m. EST and the last polls closed at 8 p.m. EST.

Florida's 15th Congressional District candidates

Cohn is a former award-winning TV reporter and creator of AMC Productions.

Lee was Florida's secretary of state — the Sunshine State's top election chief — who left her post in May to run for the 15th Congressional District. Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed Lee to the post in 2019.

Before that, Lee was a judge of the 13th Judicial Circuit Court in Florida. She's married to Tom Lee, a former GOP state senator for almost two decades and who served as state Senate president from 2004 to 2006.

Voting history for Florida's 15th Congressional District

The newly drawn district includes parts of Hillsborough, Polk, and Pasco counties — the Tampa Bay area. Republicans have a small edge based on higher registration.

Cohn previously ran for the seat in 2020 but was defeated by incumbent Republican Rep. Scott Franklin, back when the district was a different configuration. Franklin was seeking reelection in Florida's redrawn 18th Congressional District.

The money race

Lee has significantly outpaced Cohn's fundraising.

Lee has raised nearly $1.4 million, spent $1.1 million, and has $257,000 cash on hand as of October 19, according to the nonpartisan money-in-politics research organization OpenSecrets.

Cohn has raised almost $626,000, spent $624,000 and has about $35,000 cash on hand.

As of November 4, super PACs, political action committees, and politically active nonprofit groups have combined to spend about $2.7 million to advocate for or against the candidates in this race, including during the race's primary phase.

What experts say

The race between Cohn and Lee was rated as "likely Republican" by Inside Elections and "likely Republican" by Sabato's Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia Center for Politics.