Election Results FL 2020: Trump Wins Florida

Updated 2:45 a.m.

FLORIDA — Former vice president Joe Biden’s path to the presidency narrowed early Wednesday morning as most media outlets declared Florida’s 29 electoral votes would go to President Donald Trump in a close contest.

Democrats were betting a boost in voter registration and questions about the handling of the coronavirus pandemic would propel Biden to victory, but the president's camp was pleased that Biden appeared to underperform in three heavily populated South Florida counties, including Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach.

(See real-time election results from the Florida elections office at the bottom of this story.)

Despite the apparent setback in the Sunshine State, Biden remained optimistic, telling supporters: "My grandfather used to say, 'Joey, keep the faith. Keep the faith.' Guys we're gonna win this."

President Trump took the podium in the East Room of the White House shortly after 2 a.m. Wednesday with his own spin on the results.

"This is without question the latest news conference I've ever had," the president quipped with Vice President Mike Pence and first lady Melania Trump appearing with him. "Millions and millions of people voted for us tonight, and a very sad group of people is trying to disenfranchise that group of people and we won't stand for it."

Unofficial returns showed President Trump's lead over the former vice president was at 5,647,539 to 5,270,500 votes in Florida. The president also won Florida in 2016 when he ran against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

"In Florida, we didn't win it — we won it by a lot," the president insisted. "Most importantly, we're winning Pennsylvania by a tremendous amount of votes."

But the president said he believed he already won the overall election and said his camp would go to the U.S. Supreme Court to thwart attempts to commit what he characterized as a "major fraud" and an "embarrassment" on the voting process.

"We had such a big night," Trump said. "You know what happened? They knew they couldn't win so they said, 'let's go to court.' Did I predict this? Did I say this? I've been saying this from the day I heard they wanted to send out tens of millions of ballots."

More than one million people voted early in Miami-Dade, Florida's most populous county, according to election officials.

Progressive candidate Daniella Levine Cava became the county's first female mayor as she defeated conservative Miami-Dade Commissioner Esteban L. Bovo Jr. for the right to lead the county's 2.8 million residents. See Elections: Levine Cava Claims Miami-Dade Mayoral Race

Current Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez, a conservative, appeared to upset Democrat incumbent Democrat U.S. Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell in Florida's 26th Congressional District while conservative Maria Elvira Salazar appeared to defeat incumbent Democrat Donna Shalala, who served as U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services under President Bill Clinton.

The unofficial vote tally showed Former Vice President Joe Biden ahead of President Trump by a margin of 613,656 votes to 530,303 votes in Miami-Dade.

In nearby Broward County, Biden led the president by a margin of 617,689 to 332,960 votes. Biden also led in Palm Beach County, where the president is registered to vote, by a margin of 424,439 votes to 328,336 votes.

Biden was also ahead in Hillsborough County, which includes Tampa, by a margin of 374,714 votes to 326,158 votes.

In Tampa area congressional races — from Pinellas County to the much-contested Interstate 4 corridor in Polk County — incumbents won the day in their bids to retain their seats See Incumbent Tampa Bay U.S. Congressional Members Win The Day

The president appeared to beat Biden in the Florida Panhandle, which he also won in 2016.

Escambia County, which includes Pensacola, favored the president by a margin of 95,831 to 70,086. Nearby Santa Rosa County favored the president by a margin of 75,471 to 26,275. The president also appeared to take nearby Okaloosa County by a margin of 78,857 votes to 33,494 votes.

Biden appeared to take Orange County, which includes Orlando, by a margin of 394,602 to 245,162 votes. But in nearby Polk County, the president appeared to best Biden by a margin of 194,271 to 144,775 votes.

Florida's 29 electoral votes were highly prized — though not absolutely necessary — on the road to a winning combination of 270 Electoral College votes.

Few Voting Issues Reported

"It's been a really great turnout," shared Ernestine Taylor, the clerk at the Tri-Par Recreation Center at 5101 Bel-Air Ave. in Sarasota. "This morning was especially great. We've never had lines this long."

She said about 20 voters were in line before the polls even opened at 7 a.m. Tuesday. Such an early turnout was unheard of in the community, she added. "Usually, it's spread out throughout the day. I think they just wanted to make sure their vote counted," she said.

Lines also formed early outside the Robert Taylor Community Complex at 1845 34th Street in Sarasota, according to Helen James, president of the Suncoast Women of Action nonpartisan organization. The mood among voters was upbeat.

"Everyone here today has been so happy to vote. They're so happy to be a part of it. They're happy to make a difference," James said.

Both candidates and their surrogates campaigned hard in the Sunshine State during the final weeks leading up to the Nov. 3 election. Trump was in Opa-Locka outside Miami Sunday night, which violated Miami-Dade county's midnight curfew. The president said Democrats were worried their purported early lead would fizzle by Election Day.

Aides handed out masks and hand sanitizer to members of the crowd who wanted them.

Trump expressed frustration that the surging number of coronavirus cases, which has killed more than 230,000 Americans this year, remains a top headline, prompting chants of “Fire Fauci” among the president's supporters.

“Don’t tell anybody, but let me wait until a little bit after the election,” Trump replied, according to the NBC affiliate in Miami.

The former vice president slammed the president's packed rally.

"This rally isn’t for Floridians; it’s to fuel his own ego, with no regard for the issues working Floridians face every day," Biden insisted. "The good news is the end of President Trump’s failed leadership is near. Floridians have the power to make a change through your vote."

Return to Patch for the latest vote tally. Subscribe to free News Alerts for election results.

The RealClearPolitics average of polls released Monday showed Biden with a 1.7 percentage point lead over Trump in Florida by a projected margin of 48.3 percentage points to 46.6 for the president.

At a rally in Pennsylvania on Monday, Trump said it was dangerous for states to continue counting ballots after Nov. 3, even though election law in many states, gave voters several days for their ballots to arrive if they were postmarked as of Election Day.

Florida election officials had been sorting and opening mail-in ballots for weeks before Election Day. Unlike some other states, Florida requires mailed ballots to be received by the close of voting on Election Day.

"If the election is decisive enough, we should be able to call Florida on Election Night," predicted University of Florida political scientist Michael McDonald as reported by the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.

Latest Election Polls

A Quinnipiac poll released Monday said 47 percent of likely voters supported Biden, while 42 percent supported Trump.

Nationally, Biden had a double-digit lead going into the election with 50 percent of likely voters supporting him to 39 percent for Trump, Politico reported.

The final Emerson College poll ahead of the election found Trump with 45 percent support in the state compared to at 51 percent for Biden. Two percent of voters planned to vote for someone else and 2 percent were undecided.

The majority (51 percent) of Florida voters disapproved of the job President Trump was doing, while 45 percent approved of the job he was doing, the Emerson poll concluded.

Voters were asked how much of a public health threat they thought the coronavirus posed and the majority (53 percent) thought it was a major threat while 26 percent said it was a moderate threat. Fourteen percent characterized it as only a minor threat while 7 percent thought it was no threat at all. The majority (82 percent) of those planning to vote for Biden thought it was a major threat while a plurality (42 percent) of those voting for Trump thought it was a moderate threat.

Vote-by-mail ballots had to have been received by 7 p.m. on Election Day. Though it was too late to return vote-by-mail ballots using the U.S. Postal Service, Floridians were able to drop off their mail-in ballots at the Supervisor of Elections offices in their home counties on Election Day.

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• Hillsborough County Election Results: Chronister's Victory
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