■ Republican Ron DeSantis clinched the Florida gubernatorial race as his opponent conceded.

Dems’ Gillum concedes before recount is final

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Democrat Andrew Gillum ended his hard-fought campaign for Florida governor Saturday with just hours remaining for counties to turn in official recount results, conceding to a Republican whose party has held that office since 1999.

Gillum, in a video he posted on Facebook, congratulated Republican Ron DeSantis and also vowed to remain politically active even though his term as mayor of the Florida capital of Tallahassee ends next week. Of his future plans, Florida’s first African-American nominee for governor said: “stay tuned.”

The announcement came just hours before Florida’s counties must turn in their official results after tense days of recounting ballots in both the gubernatorial and a U.S. Senate contest, two nationally watched midterm elections that have kept the presidential swing state on edge since Election Day.

Gillum had initially conceded to DeSantis on election night, but he retracted it as the razor-thin margin between the two candidates narrowed. But he still trailed DeSantis by more than 30,000 votes following a legally required machine recount. Counties are wrapping up a hand recount this weekend and must submit their official results by noon Sunday.

Gillum’s concession assures that Florida Republicans will retain their grasp on the governor’s office, which has lasted since Jeb Bush’s term starting in 1999.

DeSantis, 40, was considered an underdog before Trump tweeted his support for him in December, a month before DeSantis even entered the race. Trump campaigned to help push DeSantis to a primary victory in August and visited Florida two more times to help the Republican in the final days of the election.

DeSantis is a former Navy officer who graduated from Yale University before getting his law degree at Harvard University.

Gillum’s announcement came as most Florida counties were winding down their hand recount in the state’s contentious U.S. Senate race.

James Wooldridge The Associated Press Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections Susan Bucher pushes a cart Saturday through the Supervisor of Elections Service Center in Riviera Beach.