Early, in-person voting is happening right now in the Sunshine State. Monday was the first day for Florida counties. For the state's two major parties, it’s now all gas and no breaks for the next two weeks.
Republicans are predicting a big victory. Their state party chair Evan Power highlighted what he's been talking about for months, more money in the bank and more voters on the rolls.
“We out-raise, we out-register, and then we outwork our opponents," said Power. "And that's traditionally how Republicans have won here, and we're doing it this time. We've out-registered them by a million. We've outraised them seven-to-one. And now we're going to turn out our Republican voters at a higher rate than they're going to turn out their Democrat voters.”
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Boosting his confidence, new UNF polling shows former President Donald Trump with a 10-point lead among likely Florida voters. Republican U.S. Sen. Rick Scott was three points ahead of Democratic challenger former Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell.
Florida Democrats, however, said Monday they’ve got the momentum and ground game backing them up. Chair Nikki Fried said the party's more than 100,000 volunteers knocked on more than 2 million doors, made 6 million phone calls, and sent 19 million text messages.
“I think the Democratic Party across the country has done everything possible," said Fried. "We’ve built an army and we have been message disciplined. We are holding the Republicans accountable. Talking about property insurance. Talking about abortion. The issues that are actually important to the people of this state."
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Big-name Democrats are also planning Florida stops in the coming days. Including DNC Chair Jaime Harrison, Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
All the while, Florida’s election officials told us they’re ready for a high turnout, and vowed the state’s vote tally would be secure.
“We are ready to go," said Mark Earley, Leon County Election Supervisor and former head of the Florida Supervisors of Elections Association. "The state as a whole is ready to go - and frankly, I have a lot of colleagues around the nation and I think they are just as intent on making this a success as we are here in Florida.”
Here are the latest vote totals, compiled by VoteHub.
