Tuesday night's election results are swinging heavily in the favor of Republicans as incumbents are re-elected and Amendment 2 is rejected.
Gov. Rick Scott, Attorney General Pam Bondi, CFO Jeff Atwater and Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam were all re-elected. Republicans also have a tighter grip on the Florida House.
Proponents of Amendment 2 did not garner the magic 60 percent to pass the amendment. So medical marijuana has been rejected in Florida.
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11:35 p.m.
Charlie Crist wishes Gov. Scott "the best" and also wishes the best for the state.
11:30 p.m.
Gov. Rick Scott announces that the "campaign is over."
Republicans take control of the U.S. Senate with a win in North Carolina.
11:25 p.m.
Charlie Crist has conceded to Gov. Rick Scott. Scott is expected to speak shortly.
10:40 p.m.
Charlie Crist is not yet conceding the race for governor, according to his staff.
Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd cheered the news that the medical marijuana amendment was defeated. He issued this statement on behalf of the Florida Sheriffs Association:
“We are confident that the voters of Florida have made the right decision,” said Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd. “The people of Florida were too smart to buy into the weak language and huge loopholes into this amendment, which would have created de facto legalization of marijuana and given our children legal access.
10:35 p.m.
Republicans are now close to gaining control of the U.S. Senate. They only need to pick up one more Senate seat. Republican Cory Gardner unseated incumbent Mark Udall of Colorado.
10:20 p.m.
Gov. Rick Scott wins re-election according to Associated Press.
Scott beat Charlie Crist with fewer than 88,000 votes.
10 p.m.
Attorney John Morgan, the biggest proponent of Amendment 2, did not attend his group's party Tuesday night. He did, however, tweeted a statement:
We needed 60%. We came close. We tried [our] best, this is only the first battle. We will win this war! #BELIEVE!!! #MedicalMarijuana
9:45 p.m.
Control of the U.S. Senate could come down to a handful of races. Republicans need to pick up six seats to win control. They've won three.
In the Florida House, four Orlando-area Democrats have lost their seats, including Karen Castor-Dentel, Linda Stewart, Joe Saunders and Mike Clelland all lost.
Republicans now have a 75-seat majority in the Florida House.
8:32 p.m.
Amendment 2 on medical marijuana fails to get 60 percent of the vote and is rejected, per Associated Press.
8:27 p.m.
With 76 percent of the precincts reporting in Florida, things are not looking good for the medical marijuana amendment.
The amendment is just shy of the 60 percent threshhold needed to get passed.See the latest county-by-county.
9:20 p.m.
An update to the Osceola County Comission District 2 race. Osceola now counting absentee ballots. Janer (D) up by less than 200 votes over incumbent Commissioner Quinones (R).
9:06 p.m.
From reporter John W. Davis in Volusia County: The issue that affected ballots there seems to be resolved, but ballots are still being recounted in precincts 215 and 216.
Brevard County will get a sales tax for the schools. Voters approved a referendum for a half-cent tax on school improvements. The sales tax will last six years.
“We are immensely appreciative of the trust and support that our community has demonstrated through this historic vote,” Superintendent Brian Binggeli said in a statement. “We are committed to using this revenue efficiently and transparently to protect the community’s investment in our facilities while we continue to provide quality educational opportunities for the children we serve.”
9 p.m.
Sanford Mayor Jeff Triplett wins re-election, handily defeating challengers Bob Kuhn and William Chandler Robinson.
Osceola County Commissioner John Quinoñes lost re-election in district 2, losing to Democrat Viviana Janer.
8:45 p.m.
Orange County will keep its sales tax for schools. Voters in the county approved the sales tax referendum overwhelmingly.
8:35 p.m.
Floridians have rejected Amendment 3.
Amendment 3 would have allowed an outgoing governor rather than the incoming one to choose new Supreme Court justices after three retire due to age limits in 2019. With over half the expected vote counted, the amendment had only 48 percent approval, well short of the 60 percent needed to pass.
The amendment was added to the ballot by the Republican-led Legislature, which billed it as a needed clarification. Democrats and many legal commentators called it an attempted court-packing power grab.
8:25 p.m.
A judge has denied former Gov. Charlie Crist's request to extend voting by two hours in Broward County.
Evelyn Perez-Verdoa, elections spokeswoman for the county, confirmed the judge's ruling but gave no other details. Crist's campaign filed the motion Tuesday night, shortly before the polls closed at 7 p.m. in most of the state. Crist cited voter confusion and malfunctions.
According to the motion, malfunctions with some addresses caused voters to be bounced between precincts, and ultimately the system didn't register them. They weren't able to cast regular ballots, the motion says.
In August, legislators adopted a new map that alters seven of the state's existing 27 districts.
Crist's campaign says those changes confused voters. He says they received conflicting information about where to vote, which discouraged many.
8:20 p.m.
Attorney General Pam Bondi wins re-election, per the Associated Press.
Bondi was expected to defeat challenger George Sheldon.
State Rep. Linda Stewart, D-District 47, lost her re-election bid against Republican Mike Miller.
Stewart issued the following statement:
“While this election did not go as I hoped, the voters have spoken. I am proud of the positive campaign we ran and I want to thank everyone who made phone calls, knocked on doors, or talked to their neighbors about a positive vision for Orange County. It is my hope Mr. Miller will continue the fight for the values that make Orange County so special.”
8:10 p.m.
Florida passes amendment that designates billions for conservation efforts over 20 years -- Associated Press
8:05 p.m.
Florida Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater and Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam have won re-election, per the Associated Press.
The following U.S. representative in Florida has been elected, per the Associated Press:
- Rep. Daniel Webster, R-District 10
7:50 p.m.
The following U.S. representative in Florida has been elected, per the Associated Press:
- Rep. Alan Grayson, D-District 9
7:40 p.m.
The following U.S. representatives in Florida have been elected, per the Associated Press:
- Rep. Ted Yoho, R-District 3
- Rep. Corrine Brown, D-District 5
- Rep. Ron DeSantis, R-District 6
- Rep. John Mica, R-District 7
- Rep. Bill Posey, R-District 8
- Rep. Richard Nugent, R-District 11
7:30 p.m.
Elsewhere in the country Republicans are doing well so far. Senate President Mitch McConnell won in Kentucky. Tim Scott won the U.S. Senate in South Carolina, making him the first African-American elected to the Senate from the South.
Republican Governors Nikki Haley and John Kasich have also won re-election in South Carolina and Ohio, respectively.
7:25 p.m.
Want to see the votes for governor, attorney general and Amendment 2 come in county-by-county? Check out our statewide map.
7:20 p.m.
Charlie Crist is taking an early lead in election results, 58 percent to Rick Scott's 38 percent. Also surprising, George Sheldon is leading Pam Bondi. These results so far are based on early voting numbers. Not all the precincts are in.
7:05 p.m.
Many counties are reporting that voter turnout exceeded projections. In Orange County, voter turnout adds up to about 40 percent. In Brevard County, more than 50 percent of registered voters turned out.
7 p.m.
Polls now closed everywhere but in the panhandle, which is in Central Time.
6:40 p.m.
Charlie Crist files an emergency motion to extend voting hours because of problems at polling stations in Broward County. Full Story.
700 ballots to be recounted in Volusia County due to machine error
About 700 ballots will need to be recounted in Volusia County after a machine experienced an error at Precinct 215 in DeLand, said Ann McFall, Volusia County's supervisor of elections.
Election officials had to replace the machine. The ballot count number was off, and so the ballots from the precinct will be recounted at the Volusia County Supervisor of Elections office after polls close at 7 p.m.
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