After seeming victories in the Florida governor’s race, the U.S. Senate race, and the Florida agriculture commissioner race last Tuesday, Republicans in the Sunshine State spent the last two days dumbfounded while Democrat election supervisors in deep-blue Broward and Palm Beach Counties added tens of thousands of previously uncounted votes to the statewide tally.
The newly counted ballots, which are breaking almost 3-to-1 in favor of Democrats, have triggered a likely hand recount, a machine recount, a lawsuit, a law enforcement investigation, and accusations from Republicans that Democrats are literally trying to steal the election.
At midnight on election day, Florida Gov. Rick Scott led incumbent Democrat Bill Nelson in the U.S. Senate race by just under 60,000 votes, just outside the margin for a mandatory machine recount. Meanwhile, Republican Rep. Ron DeSantis led Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum, the Democrat, by about 80,000 votes. Gillum conceded his race that night, but Nelson refused.
In a secluded room away from the well-wishers gathered at his victory party in Naples, Florida, Scott’s team did some basic math and determined the remaining uncounted precincts couldn’t possibly contain enough Democrat votes for Nelson to overcome the 60,000-vote deficit. At midnight, Scott claimed victory in a subdued speech, then retired to bed.
When Republicans woke the next morning, they were stunned to learn Scott’s lead had shrunk by 22,000 votes, a seemingly impossible mathematical feat. Most of the newly counted ballots came from Broward County, but some were added from Palm Beach County (yes, that one). With Scott’s lead now down to just 38,000 votes, murmurs of a potential recount began to build. By mid-afternoon, more cartons of Democrat-leaning ballots had been added to the statewide total, trimming Scott’s margin over Nelson to around 30,000 votes.
Even at that point, Republicans didn’t seem overly concerned. After all, 30,000 votes is a lot to overcome, especially when all that remained to be counted were a few handfuls of provisional ballots, overseas military ballots likely favoring Republicans, and some straggling vote-by-mail and early ballots. And while the governor’s race had also tightened, it remained outside the mandatory recount margin.
That all changed on Thursday morning, when Republicans woke for the second day in a row to learn that overnight, still more Democrat votes had been dumped into the system, cutting Scott’s lead by 8,000 votes, putting it well within the mandatory hand-recount range.
Reporters, by now curious about why Broward County was still counting ballots when hurricane-ravaged Bay County had their work wrapped up on election night, asked Broward County Supervisor of Elections Brenda Snipes if she knew how many uncounted ballots remained.
“Not sure. I’m really not sure. But we are working on those,” she told CBS 4 News in Miami.
A few hours later, Snipes posted another 11,300 ballots to the state’s Division of Elections. Those new votes favored Democrats by more than 2-to-1, helping Bill Nelson close the gap even further, but also triggering mandatory recounts in the governor’s race, and flipping the race for agriculture commissioner from Republican to Democrat.
By 8 p.m. on Thursday, Scott had seen enough. With his lead now down to 15,092 votes, he filed a pair of lawsuits against the Broward and Palm Beach County election supervisors. The suits demand access to public records in an effort to find out how many ballots have been cast, how many have been counted, and how many ballots remain to be counted.
“I will not sit idly by while unethical liberals try to steal this election from the great people of Florida,” Scott said during an emergency press conference on the front steps of the governor’s mansion late Thursday.
Amid reports that a teacher in Broward County found an abandoned ballot box in a storage area, Scott ordered the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to investigate Broward County’s handling of ballots and verify that the chain of custody has been properly maintained.
President Donald Trump also got in on the action, firing off a tweet in support of Scott:
@kitt: Michelle, like Donald. has earned advanced Ivy League degrees.
Melania– I would agree –like The Kardashian sisters—is a fashion icon.
@kitt: When Pelosi cites the anti-Semitic racist, race-baiting, tax evading Sharpton as “saving America”, will Democrats denounce her? Let’s just see.
You are conversing with a liar that runs from questions. He supports Democrats, who support Pelosi, who supports Sharpton, so HE supports anti-Semitism, racism, race-baiting and tax evasion because he has never denounce any of them.
I’m sure when Melania needs some advice on being racist, hating America, making school lunches inedible or talking with a perpetual scowl and a mouth full of horse-teeth, Michelle will be the first call she makes. Nothing else requires her input.
@Richard Wheeler: A fashion icon well link to all those fashion magazines she graces the cover of.
Michelle never ran a business, how many languages has she learned? She was really high maintenence. Melania many fewer staff and does not put up with trouble makers, Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Ricardel will have a new role in the administration.
you r hopeless
@kitt:
Michelle is in the lucrative social justice business and she speaks the language of racism. She knows her audience well.
We’ve got a coward here who ducked service during Viet Nam—When I’ve asked him to PLEASE point out where I have lied or ducked ANY of his questions his response is “look it up”
I ask —promise last time—back your assertions or be known as FA’S biggest liar and we can move on.
@kitt: Fashion mags indeed—my favorite was her nude shoot for British GQ. I’m not knocking her but to knock Michele who has approval ratings that Barack and Donald could only dream of—-foolish.
You gotta love it when a lying liberal coward that ducks answering questions DEMANDS answers to their questions. It is to laugh…
@Deplorable Me
: You are the admitted coward DM–see again #55
–where did I DEMAND answers to any questions on this thread? Believe the only question I asked was what Kitt thought about Spencer.
Oh yeah I asked you to back your accusations–once again you ran away
@rich wheeler:
Did you see Michelle Obama’s latest interview? She doesn’t hide her dislike (racism) for whites well in an interview any more than she did in her thesis.
@retire05: She has 71% approval rating Melania 54% Barack and Donald forget about it.
At FA she’s been called a tranny, ape in heels and other less than endearing comparisons.
@Richard Wheeler:
Again;
Did you see Michelle Obama’s latest interview?
@retire05: No
Do you agree with RT that she’s a tranny? Do you agree with those who describe her as “an ape in heels.”
@Richard Wheeler: The answer is she doesnt always wear heels.
@kitt: Again she’s at 71% approval Donald’s spent 2 years in the mid to low 40’s
Now looks 234-201.
@retire05: She can afford to be overtly racist; no one in the adoring media will call her on it. This is how left wing racism becomes mainstream; they establish that THEIR racism… the good, JUSTIFIED kind… is OK and the rest of the nodding donkeys just line up and go along. Glad-handing with anti-Semite Farrakhan, inviting racist Sharpton to the White House, blaming white men for the failures they themselves have created. Well, at least they haven’t accused whites of cannibalizing babies and poisoning wells like the Europeans did the Jews, but they’ll get around to it if necessary.
For instance, was there any outrage when Hillary quipped that all blacks look alike? Ha, ha, ha? She and everyone that failed to call her on it are racists, especially those closet supporters who claim they voted for a cow attorney.
Liberals pretend to reject racism as they ALL subscribe to it when promoted by their icons, and Michelle is one of those icons.
@Deplorable Me: The left hates NAZI’s because they killed Communists. If they were allies with the Communists, they’d love them. NAZI’s and Communists , (which Antifa proudly claims to be) are all cut from the same mold. Both are cancer on civilization. Some of us get it. Some of us don’t, i.e. the SJW left.
@another vet: The PRETEND to hate Nazis, but the really admire them and their fascist brutality. Lucking for us, too many are too lazy and cowardly to physically act like Nazis; they still expect their useful idiots to carry out their violence and suppression.
@another vet: Vet, would you consider a commendation medal for an officer who just finished a year in a combat zone a “I was there medal”?
@Randy: Navy Commendation Medal with combat “V” awarded for “valorous action in direct contact with the enemy.” Marine’s 5th highest award after MOH, Navy Cross, Silver Star, Bronze Star
What did you think of Trump missing historic Belleau Wood ceremony due to bad weather?–all other leaders except Putin I believe braved the rain
FYI Marine tour was 13 months.
AV Reminder I spent 13 months fighting communists–I’ll never love em.
@Richard Wheeler:
I don’t know. How would I know?
Nope.
I do think she has horrible fashion sense and dressed as if her designer were an upholsterer.
Jackie Kennedy was the best dressed and after her, Melania Trump.
You must absolutely abhor Jerry Brown and Maxine Waters. Do you?
@retire05: Jerry Brown was a Jesuit and has always followed their tenets—I respect his austerity and honesty though not all his politics.
Not a fan of Maxine waters
Just watched former Air Force heli pilot Christine Duckworth Illinois Dem Senator–WE NEED MORE LIKE HER IN CONGRESS
Who really cares about a first lady’s fashion sense? wll maybe women do
Have you seen Donald in tennis shorts? You’re lucky if you haven’t.
CORRECTION Tammy Duckworth D-ILL
@richard wheeler:
The Jusuits were the catalyst for the scandal the Catholic Church is now embroiled in. Have no use for the Jusuits and the direction they took.
No, but have seen you (an over the hill male) in a muscle shirt. Yuck!!!
@retire05: If you’ve been trolling lately he looks pretty good shirtless–lifting weights daily does wonders. Recommend for all seniors male and female. Sedentary life very unhealthy
What did YOU think of DT missing Belleau Wood ceremony due to rain—-he tried to make up with a fair weather visit to Maine Corps Barracks yesterday.
He seems in particularly bad humor this week.
@Randy: I assume everyone served admirably unless they are a leftist idol like Bowe Bergdahl or someone who lied about their service like John Kerry, Richard Blumenthal, Baghdad Jim McDermott, and Tom Harkin did. I do however scratch my head why someone who fought Communists in VN would come back to this country and claim he’d like to fight alongside Antifa, an openly Communist domestic terrorist group, in his own country. The animosity toward the Constitution is another matter.
Sometimes I think PT likes playing the role of an asshole just to get self proclaimed “liberals” to out themselves as the far left wingers they really are. Classical liberals they are definitely not (the exact opposite as a matter of fact) and even modern liberals they are not. There was a time when modern liberals still put our country first even though they promoted liberal ideals like abortion and higher taxes etc.
@Deplorable Me:
They are organized just like them. Antifa is their Brownshirts. The MSM is their propaganda arm. And the demokrat party is their political party.
Florida democrats a hive of scum and villiany
Its like millions of voices cried out for an honest election and were suddenly silenced.
Meanwhile at the DNC https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDuXnvbuv90
https://www.conservativereview.com/news/report-florida-democrats-plotted-statewide-effort-to-use-altered-election-forms-to-fix-absentee-ballots-after-deadline/
@Richard Wheeler:
Since when do you speak of yourself in the third person? Don’t let your ego fool you.
@another vet: You know I never said I “wanted to fight alongside Antifa” Didn’t know who they were but seemed if they were against white supremacists like Richard Spencer and his anti-Semite racists at Charlottesville they had at least that going for them.
When I learned more I condemned them along with white supremacists–I’ve said no room for either in this country. Others here claim no knowledge of Spencer.who organized Charlottesville w. s. march.– talk about ill-informed.
Your thoughts on him?
Believe judge did the right thing in saying W.H. must reinstate Acosta–All media ,including Fox, concur.