Democrat Gillum concedes in Florida
Governor recount wraps up; Senate seat still undecided
Tallahassee, Fla. Democrat Andrew Gillum ended his hard-fought campaign for Florida governor on Saturday, just hours before counties must turn in their official results following days of recounting ballots.
Gillum, in a video that he posted on Facebook, congratulated Republican Ron Desantis but vowed to remain politically active although he gave no clues as his future plans. His term as Tallahassee mayor ends next week.
“This has been the journey of our lives,” said Gillum, who appeared in the video with his wife, R. Jai Gillum. “Although nobody wanted to be governor more than me, this was not just about an election cycle. This was about creating the kind of change in this state that really allows the voices of everyday people to show up again in our government.”
There was no immediate response from Desantis or his campaign.
Gillum’s announcement came as most Florida counties were winding down their hand recount in the state’s contentious U.S. Senate race.
The smattering of results publicly posted on Saturday showed that Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson was only gaining a few hundred votes in his bitter contest with outgoing Gov. Rick Scott, a Republican.
State officials ordered a manual recount earlier in the week after a legally required machine recount showed that Scott led incumbent Democrat Bill Nelson by 12,600 votes. More than 8 million voters cast ballots in the race.
Counties have until noon on Sunday to file their official results, but it appears the gap is too far for Nelson to close. Nelson’s campaign has remained quiet as the final count has gotten closer.
Nelson and Democrats filed several lawsuits following the close election. The Nelson campaign managed to secure only one victory in court.
U.S. District Judge Mark Walker gave voters until 5 p.m. Saturday to fix their ballots if they haven’t been counted because of mismatched signatures. Nearly 5,700 ballots were rejected because signatures on ballot envelopes did not match signatures on file.
But Walker rejected additional lawsuits, including one that sought to change the rules used while inspecting hand ballots.
If Nelson loses, it would likely spell an end to a lengthy political career that stretches back four decades. Nelson was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 2000. A win for Scott would mark his third victory since the multimillionaire businessman launched his political career in 2010. In each race, Scott has barely edged his Democratic opponent.