Pete Mitchell muted CNN at the Embassy Suites in downtown Orlando and trudged onto the stage overlooking a hushed ballroom, where the dour remnants of an audience gathered to celebrate Bill Nelson’s reelection to the U.S. Senate on Election Day now waited instead for some kind of solace or finality. It was after midnight, and Nelson didn’t have much to say. But somebody had to say something. About 20 minutes earlier and 200 miles away in Naples, Gov. Rick Scott had declared victory, announcing his ascension to the U.S. Senate after leading the incumbent by more than 57,000 votes. On the other side of Orlando, Trump-endorsed Ron DeSantis was celebrating his own win in the race for governor after receiving a concession call from Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum. “Thanks for your patience,” Mitchell, Nelson’s longtime campaign manager and chief of staff, told a smattering of reporters and supporters. “Based on numerous media reports, the Senate race has been called for Rick Scott. This is obviously not the results Senator Nelson’s campaign had worked so hard for.” Mitchell said Nelson would have more to say in the morning, and despite his characterizations the press was treating the race as too close to call. But the statement felt like the period on another declaration of Republican dominance in Florida, where the ruling party once again held on to the governor’s mansion and also appeared to topple Nelson, the last standing statewide elected Democrat. The results were tight, but that’s Florida. And in… [Read full story]
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