The final tally will be certified next week, but USA Today is reporting that 33,683 more voters chose Ron DeSantis over Andrew Gillum in a race for the Florida governorship.
The recount of more than 8 million ballots ended Thursday afternoon and confirmed that Trump lapdog Ron DeSantis beat the Tallahassee mayor in the race that nearly ushered in the end of two decades of Republican rule in the governor's mansion.
The latest count headed for certification next week showed that 4,075,445 voted for DeSantis while 4,041,762 did so for Gillum.
The deadline for the recount was 3 p.m. EST, but the Democratic stronghold of Palm Beach County was the only one of Florida's 67 counties that failed to meet the deadline. Progressives who galvanized behind Gillum will have to swallow another bitter pill this afternoon since the margin of victory is enough to avoid a hand recount of questionable ballots set aside for further review.
DeSantis has already assembled a transition team, but Gillum will not concede, according to reports.
"He and his supporters believe there is still a path to victory," USA Today wrote, "lawsuits that could add more votes in support of him."
“A vote denied is justice denied — the State of Florida must count every legally cast vote," Gillum said in a statement after the recount totals were released.
"As today’s unofficial reports and recent court proceedings make clear, there are tens of thousands of votes that have yet to be counted. We plan to do all we can to ensure that every voice is heard in this process. Voters need to know that their decision to participate in this election, and every election, matters. It is not over until every legally casted vote is counted.”
Somebody grab the popcorn.
This article appears in Nov 15-22, 2018.
