Florida election results: Tight race for presidency, Bill Nelson wins re-election

Florida election results: Tight race for presidency, Bill Nelson wins re-election

Florida election results show a tight race between President Obama and Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney. With 31 percent of votes counted, Florida election officials are projecting a tight race between President Obama and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney.  With just under 7 million votes cast,  Romney leads President Obama 2,976,780 to 2,998,617 votes. Romney, who had […]

Florida election results show a tight race between President Obama and Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney.

With 31 percent of votes counted, Florida election officials are projecting a tight race between President Obama and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney.  With just under 7 million votes cast,  Romney leads President Obama 2,976,780 to 2,998,617 votes.

Romney, who had campaigned heavily in the state ahead of Tuesday’s election, had a slight lead in the Florida polls going into the 2012 general election, although some analysts still called the state a tossup between the two candidates.

The race for the U.S. Senate seat from Florida was less of a fight. Congressman Connie Mack, a Florida Republican, is projected to fall to Senator Bill Nelson. The seat was seen as a key battleground for Senate Democrats and Republicans.  Democrats currently hold a 53 to 47 edge in the Senate, including the two independents who caucus with them. Republicans need a net of four seats to grab the majority, three if Republican Mitt Romney wins the presidency.

Tuesday’s election results follow a record turnout. Florida Secretary of State Ken Detzner said voter turnout reached an all-time high, aftermore than 4.5 million Floridians having already voted absentee and in the early voting methods.

“We had a round of calls with staff and supervisors of elections from around the state and things seem to be going very, very well,” Detzner said. “We could possibly see — and these are projections we get from supervisors out in the field, with early and absentee voting — we could approach as many as 9 million people voting.”

In 2008, 8,456,329 Floridians, 75.2 percent of the state’s registered voters, went to the polls for the general election.

Election Day was not without some drama. In Escambia County, Florida’s westernmost county on the Panhandle, there was a report of a woman falling in the parking lot. She broke her leg, but she still voted.

“She was carried into the polling place by her husband so she could vote and then was transported to the hospital,” Detzner said. “We’re grateful for her interest and passion to vote.”

With much of the nation watching the election results from Florida, state officials reassured voters that any problems that arise would be addressed swiftly and efficiently. Detzner says he has repeatedly briefed Governor Rick Scott, adding that the state also has a recount plan in place if the vote is close.

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