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Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Back issues
Courthouse News Service Courthouse News Service

Scott, Nelson Senate Contest in Florida Headed to Recount

Sen. Bill Nelson's campaign announced Wednesday morning that his race against Florida Governor Rick Scott is headed to a recount.

(CN) - Sen. Bill Nelson's campaign announced Wednesday morning that his race against Florida Governor Rick Scott is headed to a recount.

In a post on the "Nelson for Senate" website, the campaign said the recount was triggers by the "razor-thin" margin in the race.

As of Wednesday, Nelson trailed Scott by just 34,537 votes out of 8.1 million votes cast in the state. Under Florida law a recount is required whenever the margin of victory in a statewide race in within one percentage point.

In a brief statement Nelson himself said, "We are proceeding to a recount."

The three-term Democratic senator released a statement at 1 a.m. Wednesday morning, saying he was disappoint in the election night results. But shortly after 3 a.m., Scott's margin of victory slipped to just 0.4 percent, triggering the recount provision.

Now, election supervisors in all of Florida's 67 counties must recheck tally totals, and the Nelson campaign says it will have observers in every county, "watching for any irregularities, mistakes or unusual partisan activities."

The Scott campaign has not responded to the latest development.

The deadline for completing the recount is noon on Nov. 10.

Categories / Government, National, Politics

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