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News > U.S.

US Midterms Continue: Florida Recount in Governor, Senate Race

  • US Midterms Continue: Florida Recount in Governor, Senate Race
Published 8 November 2018
Opinion

The Florida race for governor heads to a recount after the results of the contest between Andrew Gillum and Ron DeSantis fall into the mandatory recount threshold.

As the dust settles on the dramatic U.S. midterm elections in which the Democrats wrested control of the U.S. House of Representatives from Republican control, and flipped numerous offices from governorships to state posts, from blue to red, Florida continues to dominate the news by announcing that two races are too close to call, and will go to recount.

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The race for Florida governor between Andrew Gillum, a progressive Democrat, who campaigned on a platform of marijuana legalization, the abolition of ICE, and prison reform; and Ron DeSantis, who linked his campaign closely to U.S. President Donald Trump, is now going to a recount, as the results broke to below the .05% threshold required in Florida for an automatic recount.

Gillum had already conceded the race Tuesday, saying, "I sincerely regret that I couldn’t bring it home for you," and calling on his supporters to continue fighting for progressive causes.

DeSantis' win, on the other hand, bolstered Trump and his supporters by showing that a candidate could run and win on a campaign dominated by racial messaging and fearmongering. 

In the Florida Senate race, incumbent Bill Nelson faced former Florida Governor Rick Scott. The results of that race have also narrowed to less that .05% difference, and will go to recount. Nelson is a mainstream centrist Democrat who ran a conventional campaign that faltered against the energy of the younger and more combative Rick Scott.

The recount will take place under observation from representatives from both parties, and the second unofficial returns, which are the results of a machine recount, must be presented by Nov. 15. The official recount numbers are due Nov 18.

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