Florida election results: Rick Scott beats Bill Nelson for Senate seat as Andrew Gillum loses to Ron DeSantis for governor
Democrat Donna Shalala also beats Republican Maria Elvira Salazar to take House seat in 27th district
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Your support makes all the difference.Republican Ron DeSantis has beaten Democrat Andrew Gillum in the race to become the next governor of Florida, extending GOP control of that office which has remained unbroken since 1994.
Meanwhile, the current governor of the state, Republican Rick Scott, has beat Senator Bill Nelson in the race for US Senate. Mr Scott beat Mr Nelson narrowly after an expensive race that ranks as one of the most expensive in US electoral history.
Mr Gillum called Mr DeSantis to concede, but vowed to continue to fight for causes he believes in.
In down ballot races, Democrats flipped two House seats from Republicans, with Democrats Debbie Mucarsel-Powell and Donna Shalala now set to become US representatives in January.
The Republican victory in the Florida Senate race reflects a broader trend for the GOP in that legislative body, as President Donald Trump’s party expanded its control there. The party flipped at last three seats from Democrats.
But, Democrats saw victories in ways that will hobble the president’s next two years in office, and gained control of the House of Representatives. Democrats will now yield power over congressional investigations, and will have the ability to re-open or expand investigations into Russia’s involvement in the 2016 election and any connection that involvement may have had to Mr Trump’s campaign.
Democrats also saw important wins in governors races across the country, even if Mr Gillum was unable to flip control in Tallahassee. As election results poured in from across the country, Democrats picked up at least six governorships from Republican hands. That means that the party will control at least 21 governor's mansions. Republicans, with four seats left to be decided on Wednesday morning, had retained control of 25 seats.
To see how the evening unfolded please read our live blog below
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A few hours ago Donald Trump posted a message encouraging people in Florida to go out and vote.
In the message he throws his weight behind Republican Congress candidate Michael Waltz.
Florida finds itself host to one of the most heated and ill-tempered of all the midterm election races.
Tallahassee mayor Andrew Gillum, 39, is running for governor against Ron DeSantis and hopes to become the first African-American to win the office in the Sunshine State.
Here’s our introduction to one of the defining contests of the autumn.
↵As polls take the last voters in, here's a report on gun control in Florida from reporter Clark Mindock:
Polls in most of Florida are about to close, at 7pm ET. While that will cover the vast majority of the state — including major metropolitan areas like Miami and Orlando — polls will stay open for another hour in the westernmost portion of the state, known as the panhandle.
Reports suggest that in at least one precinct in Broward County, voters encountered locked gates to get to their polling places.
WLRN in South Florida reports that private security officers told one woman "too bad" when she voiced concern that her polling place had been moved inside of a gated community, and that voters needed to provide identification to get inside and to the polls.
"I wouldn't show them ID and they held me at the gate and blamed me for holding the line," another voter, Carlos J Lugo, tweeted.
Polls are now closed across most of Florida. The race is in the early days at the moment, with just 1 per cent of the precincts reporting.
Beyond the high profile battles for the governor's mansion and Senate seat, voters in Florida were asked to weigh in on many other issues, including on Amendment 4 — a measure that would give the vote back to over 1.5 million felons in the state.
Florida is one of just a few states in the US where felons do not have a clear systematic way to get the right to vote back after serving their sentences.
Check out our coverage, from Miami, of the issue
While we're waiting for the votes to be tallied in Florida, it is worth noting that the state saw some of the biggest spending of any Senate race in US history.
Signs were everywhere pushing Floridians to vote for candidates up and down the ballot when we were down in the state — take a look at our coverage of the money spent down there, where Mr Scott spent a small fortune of his own money to try and become a US senator.
Early results are giving a slight lead to the Democrat at the top of the ticket in Florida.
With just 4 per cent of precincts reporting, Mr Gillum leads Mr DeSantis with 40 per cent of the vote to 48.8 per cent.
Mr GIllum would be the first Democratic governor of the state since 1994 — and the first African American governor in the state's history.
On the Senate side, Mr Nelson is leading with 51.3 per cent of the vote to Mr Scott's 48.7 per cent. Nine per cent of precincts are reporting.
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