TALLAHASSEE REPORTS — With a victory margin of a little more than a tenth of a percentage point out of 8.2 million votes cast, Gov. Rick Scott has won election to the U.S. Senate, ending the four-decade political career of Bill Nelson.
In the final vote tallies sent to the state Division of Elections on Sunday, Scott, a two-term Republican governor, held a 10,033-vote edge — or 0.12 percent — over Nelson, a Democrat who was seeking re-election to his fourth six-year term in the U.S. Senate.
The election went to an automatic machine recount when Scott failed to secure a lead of more than 0.5 percent in the initial count after the Nov. 6 election. The machine recount left the Republican with a 12,603-vote lead, or 0.15 percent, triggering the statewide manual recount that concluded at noon Sunday.
Scott’s lead was narrowed by 2,570 votes between the end of the machine recount on Thursday and the conclusion of the manual recount, but he has consistently held a lead since Election Day. The final results are expected to be certified when the state Elections Canvassing Commission meets Tuesday morning in Tallahassee.
Scott, who said Nelson “graciously conceded” in a phone call on Sunday, thanked Nelson “for his years of public service.”
While the voting recount process drew harsh accusations of fraud and political chicanery, numerous lawsuits and counter-lawsuits, Scott’s victory statement called for unity. read more
Unity? Good luck with that my friend
I’ll believe the Dems concede when the Repub gets sworn in.
With all due respect- his term as Senator doesn’t begin until January, and until that time, he is the sitting Governor of Florida, where massive corruption and fraud has been committed. It is his incumbent duty to make sure that those alleged crimes are prosecuted.
Whether from his seat on the Governors Mansion or in the Senate he ought to start the ball rolling on a real investigation into the disaster that is the Florida Election Machine. the new Governor should follow whatever is started by Scott and introduce new processes/procedures/policies and voter identification to make sure that Florida isn’t a laughingstock (and a breeding ground for vote fraud) but rather, is looked at as a model for other states and the Federal elections as well. This is likely the single most important thing the new Governor has on his plate.
One insufferable jerk finally gone and one {Rubio} to go.
We will have a five day governor because of the January 3 Senate term start and the January 8 Governor term start.
Same thing happened when Bob Graham went from Governor to Senator and Kt Gov Wayne Mixon was Governor for three days.
I don’t know if Scott will take salary of Senator. He only took one dollar a month as Governor.
Congratulations Senator Scott. It sounds pretty good doesn’t it. What I’m concerned about is our election laws which the democrats want to change to ensure they win in elections. I don’t want those changes. We need to keep the electoral college. Please send me your email address so that I can email you my concerns.