South Florida Senate race separated by just 21 votes
TALLAHASSEE — A single-seat expansion of the Republican majority in the Florida Senate hinges on several hundred uncounted vote-by-mail ballots in Miami-Dade County.
Meanwhile, the GOP’s hold in the House grew in Tuesday’s election to 78, just below the supermajoritymark in the 120-member chamber.
IncomingHouse Speaker Chris Sprowls, R-Palm Harbor, called the election results, which included picking up fiveHouse seats, “overwhelmingsupport” for Republican governance.
A recount is expected for the Senate District 37 seat, held since 2016 by Democrat Jose Javier Rodriguez. He trailed Republican challenger Ileana Garcia by a margin of 104,533 votes to 104,512 as of Wednesday afternoon for the seat that covers a part ofMiami-Dade County.
“There’s a process there, but I thinkwewould rather beinourposition than in the other position,” Gov. Ron DeSantis said of the district contestWednesday during a news conference in which he praised thework of state and local elections officials andRepublican leaders.
A victory by Garcia, a former deputy press secretary at the Department of Homeland Security in the Trump administration who foundedLatinas forTrump, wouldboost theGOPmajority in the Senate from 23-17 to a slightly more comfortable 24-16.
WithGarciaahead48.53% to 48.52% — independent Alex Rodriguez received 2.96% of the vote — the district was the last undeclared race among Senate seats onTuesday’s ballot.
Neither camp was conceding as signatures on the remaining vote-by-mail ballots have until 5 p.m. Thursday to be verified.
“Overnight, Senator Jose JavierRodriguez has gained nearly 100 votes in this race with over 400 vote-by-mail ballots to still be reviewed,” Christian Ulvert of the Democrat’s campaign said in a statement released
Wednesday morning. “It is important for everyone who may have had an issue with their ballot to quickly contact the Miami-Dade County supervisor of elections to complete the cure process.”
Ulvert added that “the final vote total will send Senator Rodriguez back to Tallahassee to continue fighting for the people of District 37.”
Meanwhile, the Florida Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee, chaired by incoming Senate PresidentWilton Simpson, indicated any final counting or recountwon’t change Garcia’s lead.
“Ileana Garcia has run a spectacular campaign and madethe case for hardwork and the American Dream,” committee spokeswoman Erin Isaac said in a statement Wednesday. “The people of Senate District 37 turned out in record numbers and deserve to be heard. We want every legal ballot cast to becountedand have no reason to believe theywon’t.”
Machine recounts are required when contests are within a margin of 0.5 percentage points or less when the unofficial results are posted.
Races with margins of 0.25 percentage points or less go to manual, or hand, recounts.
In the House, where all incumbent Republicans running for reelection held their seats, the GOP knocked out three Democraticmembersandgrabbed two other seats vacated by Democrats who unsuccessfully ran for higher office.
Republican FionaMcFarland picked up an open seat in Sarasota County’s House District 72 that opened when Rep. Margaret Good, D-Sarasota, ran against GOP Congressman Vern Buchanan. Buchanan retained his seat by more than 10 percentage points.
RepublicanDemiBusatta Cabrera in Miami-Dade County’s House District 114, grabbed the seat that became open when Rep. Javier Fernandez, D-South Miami, decided to run for the Senate. Fernandez lost
by nearly 13 percentage points in his contest with Rep. AnaMaria Rodriguez, R-Doral, for the Senate District 39 seat.
Meanwhile Tuesday, Republican Linda Chaney defeated Rep. Jennifer Webb, D-Gulfport, in Pinellas County’s House
District69. RepublicanDana Trabulsy unseated Rep. Delores Hogan Johnson, D-Fort Pierce, in St. Lucie County’sHouse District 84.
And Republican Tom Fabricio toppledRep. Cindy Polo, D-Miramar, in House District 103 in Broward and Miami-Dade counties.