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

Donna Shalala stresses importance of community after flipping Florida House seat

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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Key Points

• Ron DeSantis will be the next governor of Florida, after Democrat Andrew Gillum's concession
• Rick Scott has beat Bill Nelson in the race for US Senate after a close win over the Democrat
• Democrats have flipped two House seats — the 27th district and the 26th district
• Florida voters have also passed a measure giving some felons back the vote

[7 November 2018 03:57 · Clark Mindock]

Mr Scott leads by just 58,680 votes over Mr Nelson to become the next US senator, with 99 per cent of precincts reporting int he state.

There are still ballots to be counted in southern Florida, around Orlando, and around Tampa — and elsewhere — but the math is becoming increasingly difficult for Mer Nelson to stage a comeback.

[7 November 2018 04:00 · Clark Mindock]

Mr Gillum has called Mr DeSantis to concede, but vowed to continue to fight for what he believes in.

Mr DeSantis will now become the next governor of Florida.

[7 November 2018 04:43 · Clark Mindock]

Mr Scott has won his bid to become the next US senator from Florida. He narrowly beat out the incumbent, Democratic Senator Bill Nelson.

[7 November 2018 05:00 · Clark Mindock]

Mr DeSantis' win means that Republicans will continue their control of the governor's mansion for another four years. They've held the seat since 1994 — and when Florida votes again for governor, Republicans will have controlled the state for a total of 28 consecutive years.

[7 November 2018 05:21 · Chris Stevenson]

Andrew Gillum has been speaking about his loss in Florida:

 “Y’all, I want to encourage you not to give up,“ he said in his speech in Tallahassee. ”We still have to be willing to show up every single day and demand our seat at the table.“

[7 November 2018 05:30 · Chris Stevenson]

Later, Mr Gillum talked about good winning out over evil.

“I still believe, and I still trust the voters,” he said. “We may not have all shown up in the way that we thought and hoped we would, but I still believe that there are more of us who believe in what is common, and what is decent, and what is right. And I believe, in the long run, good always wins out over evil. I still believe that.” 

[7 November 2018 05:44 · Chris Stevenson]

In the governor's race Ron DeSantis won by about one percentage point or nearly 80,000 votes over Democratic candidate Andrew Gillum.

Mr DeSantis spoke to supporters at his campaign headquarters in Orlando. “Not bad for a kid who started out making $6 an hour,” he said. In the race, “I knew the only thing I could control was how hard I worked.”

[7 November 2018 06:03 · Chris Stevenson]

We have also spoken about Amendment 4 that was on the ballot in Florida that will give more than a million felons back the vote.

There were a few other amendments on the list, and all but one passed. The most interesting was Amendment 9, which banned offshore oil drilling and indoor vaping.

[7 November 2018 06:14 · Chris Stevenson]

In the Senate race, winner - and Republican - Rick Scott has been congratulated by former presidential candidate Jeb Bush.

 

[7 November 2018 06:46 · Chris Stevenson]

Here is Rick Scott talking about his Senate victory against Bill Nelson: