Florida is once again in the spotlight politically. The likely recounts in both the Sunshine State’s Senate and gubernatorial races have put Florida in a familiar place. It was18 years ago that the US Supreme Court stopped a Florida recount in the presidential race, giving George W. Bush the White House.
“The recounts will be nationally watched . . . [we’re] under a microscope,” Secretary of State Ken Detzner said on a conference call with county election officials, the Miami Herald reported.
The Senate race has Gov. Rick Scott leading Democratic incumbent Bill Nelson by just 0.21 percentage points out of almost 8.2 million votes cast. That margin is below the 0.5-point threshold that usually causes an automatic machine recount under state law.
In the governor’s race, GOP Rep. Ron DeSantis leads Democratic Mayor of Tallahasse mayor, Andrew Gillum, but 0.47 percentage points. There are still thousands of votes to be counted in that race.
“It has become clear there are many more uncounted ballots than was originally reported. Our campaign, along with our attorney . . . is ready for any outcome,” Gillum’s campaign said.
Nelson’s campaign was also interested in pursuing the recount, a move that Scott’s campaign called “sad” and “desperate.”
Florida is not alone, there are moves to recount the vote in the Arizona Senate race, as well as thousands of uncounted ballots. At this point, Democrat Kyrsten Sinema, who had been slightly behind Republican Martha McSally since election night, has taken a 48.9-to-48.8 percent lead, and there are more ballots to be counted.
In Georgia, the battle to be the next governor still looms. Democrat Stacey Abrams is forming a team for legal challenges even while Republican Brian Kemp is readying his transition team.
Kemp announced his resignation on Thursday as secretary of state, saying it would ensure “public confidence” while freeing him to focus on preparing for his new role as governor.
Credit: NY Post