In the top two races in Florida, Democratic candidates Andrew Gillum (governor’s race) and Bill Nelson (Senate race) are looking strong based on early voting.
As Benchmark Politics noted on Twitter, even though some of the Democratic strongholds haven’t yet come in, Gillum and Nelson are already looking strong.
Nelson and Gillum are looking pretty healthy in Florida with where the results are coming from. Large amounts of votes will come from Broward/Miami Dade and they’re already ahead.
— Benchmark Politics (@benchmarkpol) November 7, 2018
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Nate Cohn of The New York Times points to Pinellas County as one location where the early numbers don’t look good for Republican Senate candidate Rick Scott.
Nelson’s 7 point margin in Pinellas County, Fla. early/abs vote is not a good sign for Scott.
— Nate Cohn (@Nate_Cohn) November 7, 2018
As Marc Caputo of Politico also pointed out, there are “strong indications” that independents are breaking in the direction of Democrats.
We have 30 minutes until the western Panhandle polls close in Florida, but judging by the big margins in urban counties for Democrats, there are strong indications that independents are breaking heavily their way
It’s early. I’m not calling the races. But it’s trending D https://t.co/Ys8749j5YW
— Marc Caputo (@MarcACaputo) November 7, 2018
With more than half the vote counted at the hour, both Democrats are leading their Trump-endorsed opponents by 3-4 points.
If Democrats win the governorship and retain the Senate seat, it would be a huge loss for Trump
Florida has been one of the most hotly contested states in the country – both the race for governor and U.S. Senate – and it would a major boost for Democrats if they could sweep the top two races.
It would also be a huge defeat for Donald Trump.
After all, Trump visited Florida multiple times throughout the campaign, particularly in the closing weeks of the campaign. If both DeSantis and Scott end up losing their races, it is likely they will question why they
Still, at this hour, there is a sizable chunk of the vote left to be counted, and it is Florida. So far, though, Gillum is in a good position to turn his state blue.
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Sean Colarossi currently resides in Cleveland, Ohio. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and was an organizing fellow for both of President Obama’s presidential campaigns. He also worked with Planned Parenthood as an Affordable Care Act Outreach Organizer in 2014, helping northeast Ohio residents obtain health insurance coverage.
