With some races expected to be agonizingly tight, tonight's election results may get sweaty. So please feel free to keep an electric fan pointed at you at all times. Its not against the rules.
As always, we'll fill in the results of the most notable elections up top as they get called. Then we'll keep live updates down below. Polls close at 7, so we'll get started then. Or, if you'd rather, you can follow @MiamiNewTimes on Twitter or @Munzenrieder for more.
Statewide Races
Florida Governor: Rick Scott (Republican)
Attorney General: Pam Bondi (Republican)
CFO: Jeff Atwater (Republican)
Agriculture Commissioner: Adam Putnam (Republican)
Amendment 1 (Conservation Funds): Yes
Amendment 2 (Medical Marijuana): No
Amendment 2 (Judicial Appointments): No
Noteworthy Miami-Dade Races:
U.S. Rep District 26: Carlos Curbelo (Republican)
Courthouse Bonds: No
FIU Expansion: Yes
10:31 - Oh, but wait, there's this. Does not seem like things will end up close enough for a recount, but we'll see. Right now, Scott stands at 48.3%. Crist stands at 46.91%.
According to @jenntitus10 reporting from #CharlieCrist election headquarters, #Crist will be calling for a recount pic.twitter.com/wkHF3mSETC
— 10 News (@WTSP10News) November 5, 2014
10:25 - The national media is calling it. Rick Scott has been re-elected as governor of Florida.
I mean this from the most objective place, but this is all very strange to me and I might need a few hours to totally digest this. But then I remember his opponent was Charlie Crist.
10:23 - Some exit poll highlights:
Crist won Cubans by 50%, other Hispanics by 65%. Still a difference, but another sign the Cuban vote is shifting.
— Kyle Munzenrieder (@Munzenrieder) November 5, 2014
49 percent of Floridians who voted support same-sex marriage. 46 percent don't, as per CNN Exit Polls.
— Kyle Munzenrieder (@Munzenrieder) November 5, 2014
.@CNN's exit polls says 18-29&s made up 14% of electorate this year, compared to 9% in 2010.
— Kyle Munzenrieder (@Munzenrieder) November 5, 2014
10:01 - Lawyer John Morgan, Medical Marijuana's biggest supporter, has said if the amendment didn't win tonight he'd just try again later.
We needed 60%. We came close. We tried our best, this is only the first battle. We will win this war! #BELIEVE!!! #MedicalMarijuana
— John Morgan (@JohnMorganESQ) November 5, 2014
9:54 - Of course this means Curbelo joins Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen as one the still rare but growing number of elected Republicans in Washington who support marriage equality. So there's that.
9:52 - Haha, just kidding. Apparently Joe Garcia himself will call it. Thus ends his single term in congress. Whatever your feelings, I'm sure we can all agree where glad it's no longer David Rivera's seat.
Joe Garcia concedes to Carlos Curbelo in District 26 Congressional race. Details at 10 @wsvn
— Eugene Ramirez (@EugeneRamirez) November 5, 2014
9:46 - Curbelo up 52 percent to Garcia's 48 percent. But ~5000 votes separate them, so no one is going to call it quite yet.
9:40 - Scott is at 48.38%. Crist is at 46.82%.
Florida as a whole must be a masochist.
9:34 - Some polls suggested that even people who support the general idea of medical marijuna ended up voting against Amendment 2. Which shows you what a heavily financed campaign full of lies against it an amendment can do. Big money wins. People who are suffering lose.
9:32 - The Associated Press has projected that Florida's Medical Marijuana amendment has failed. At the moments it at 57 percent, just three points short of the 60 percent it needed to pass.
9:13 - According to AP exit poll results, Charlie Crist won the Hispanic vote by about 20 points. Last time Scott actually won Hispanics by 2 points. And yet, that doesn't seem to be affecting the vote totals so far.
9:05
.@FLGovScott supporters loudly play @BobbyShmurdaGS9 hit single outside Curbelo election HQ @WLRN #election2014
— Gregory Castillo (@Gcastillophoto) November 5, 2014
That song, in case you're not familiar, is called "Hot N****." It's a viral Vine hit, but wow what a world sometimes.
8:44 - The Mayoral leads we discussed at 7:44 still hold. Here's some other local results of note.
Pedro J. Garcia leads the property appraiser race 59-41.
The county question to allow libraries in parks will pass.
FIU's expansion into the Youth Fair site will pass.
Funding for a new courthouse by bonds will fail.
8:41 As for the other state-wide amendment: Amendment 1 (conservation funds) will pass. Amendment 3 (supreme court judicial appointments) will not. That's the only good news for progressives in the state so far, really.
(Amendment 2 likely won't meet the 60 percent threshold either, but we'll hold off on that for a minute).
8:31 Latest statewide results:
- Scott: 48.78%, Crist: 46.28%
- Medical Marijuana: 56.86% yes, 43.14% no.
- US Rep Distrcit 26: Curbelo 51.77%, Garcia 48.23%.
8:23 - Pam Bondi has claimed victory in Florida's Attorney General race, meaning she'll get to continue to fight the legalization of gay marriage unhampered.
Here's an appropriate picture of a sad drag queen.
8:12 - Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater and Commission of Agriculture Adam Putnam, both Republicans, have been easily reelected according to people who call such things early.
Could we see a Putnam vs Atwater (or even Bondi) Republican primary for Governor next year? Remember, Putnam quit a once blessed career in the House of Representatives to run AgCom, and it seems that he may have higher ambitions someday.
In any event, both winning wasn't much of a surprise.
8:08 - It appears that Pam Bondi is in very little danger of losing reelection. Turns out postponing that execution to attend a fundraiser worked out pretty well after all.
Of course this means that she will continue to defend Florida's gay marriage ban. So if her current 14 point lead holds, its not a very good night for marriage equality in the Sunshine State.
8:00 Polls are now closed in the Panhandle, and here's the first results from Florida's official election results page:
- Scott 48.07%, Crist 46.97%
- Bondi 55.5%, Sheldon 41.69%
- Medical Marijuana: 56.68% yes, 43.32% no
7:54 - A judge has rejected Crist's motion to keep voting open in Broward until 9 p.m. Meaning all voting will officially be over in Florida in 6 minutes.
7:44 - Doesn't appear to be any upsets in local legislative races.
For County Judge Group 10, Jacqueline 'Jackie' Schwartz leads Frank Bocanegra by about 12 points.
Peggy Bell appears to be heading to election as Cutler Bay's new mayor with a 12.5 percent lead.
Claudia 'Ms. Claudia' V. Cubillos has a healthy lead in El Portal's mayoral race over incumbent Daisy Black.
Mayor Connie Leon Kreps looks like she's cruising to reelection in North Bay Village
Smith Joseph has a 12 point lead in North Miami.
Myra L. Taylor also looks headed to reelection in Opa-locka.
Palmetto Bay's four way mayoral race is still pretty tight and will likely head to a runoff, but Eugene Flinn leads all candidates.
7:40 - Statewide Results so far, which include most absentees, the majority of early voting and even some day-off voting in other counties:
- Crist: 50%, Scott: 45%
- Bondi: 53%, Sheldon 45%
- Medical Marijuana: 57 percent. It needs to reach 60 percent to pass. Puff. Puff.
7:31 - Early Voting Results are now in! Again, these are Miami-Dade county totals only.
- Curbelo: 52.7, Garcia: 47.29
- Crist: 66.8, Scott: 40.88
- Sheldon: 53.22, Bondi: 45.08
- FIU Expansion: 65 percent yes.
- Courthouse Bonds: 64 percent no.
7:29
1,6 million ballots have been counted in #FLGov, and Crist leads by 9%.
That's half of the early vote, which was R+3.
— Taniel (@Taniel) November 5, 2014
7:25 WSVN apparently calling this before anyone else does, but no surprise there. The real story is whether she holds on to her job as DNC Chairwoman.
#BREAKING: Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Dem, elected U.S. House, District 23, Florida. pic.twitter.com/Y3qFNLX4tb
— WSVN-TV (@wsvn) November 5, 2014
7:15 - Absentee Ballot results are in (at least for those received before Election Day). Remember absentee voting tends to be dominated by Republican voters, but here's the breakdown from Miami-Dade only (i.e. state races aren't state-wide results).
- Carlos Curbelo leads Joe Garcia 57.77 percent to 42.23
- Charlie Crist leads Rick Scott 50.12 to 47.13 ...in Miami-Dade only
- Pam Bondi meanwhile leads George Sheldon 51.58 to 46.64, which is not a good bellwether for Sheldon's state-wide chances.
- Medical Marijuana in Miami absentees: 51.28 percent yes, 48.72 no.
Will be interesting to see how early voting numbers change all of this.
7:10 - Polls are now closed in most of Florida, but the panhandle extends into Central Times, so all of Florida won't be done voting until 8:00 our time. Early and absentee voter results in Miami-Dade should start flowing in soon.
6:57 - Per early reports, it doesn't seem that voter turn out in Miami-Dade or Broward county will peak much higher than around 40 percent -- if that -- which is, well, pathetic. Congrats to you who did vote though! Feel good about yourself! Shame your neighbors, friends, co-workers, and family members who didn't vote tomorrow!
6:53 - Per Naked Politics, Broward precincts had been shifted around since last election, causing confusion. One polling place at Croissant Park Elementary School was offline for nearly 90 minutes this morning, and Electroinc Voter ID machines throughout the county kept malfunctioning through out the day. Crist's camp argues that polls should remain open because of this.
6:47 - Polls haven't closed yet, and apparently if Charlie Crist gets his way, they won't be until 9 p.m. in Broward County. He's filed and emergency motion to have polls kept open until then in our northern neighbor. No one seems to know exactly why. Turnout in Broward county has been light today (they may be the most apathetic voters in Florida, tbh), but its also the most heavily Democratic large county.
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