Federal Poll Monitors See Peaceful FL Election, Updated Results

ACROSS FLORIDA — For the state that's become notorious for its problematic elections, the U.S. Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division took a proactive approach, sending poll monitors to six Florida counties to ensure there were no civil rights violations during the general election.

Monitors kept a close eye on polls in Broward, Duval, Hillsborough, Miami-Dade, Orange and Palm Beach counties.

Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections Craig Latimer wasn't concerned about the federal scrutiny.

"This is a standard practice for the DOJ," he said.

One bit of Florida election history was made Tuesday when voters in Miami-Dade elected their first woman mayor, Daniella Levine Cava.

Related: Election Results FL 2020: Trump Wins Florida

Florida was among 18 states where DOJ poll monitors were posted. The DOJ also set up a call center to take complaints from the public regarding possible violations of federal voting rights laws.

Eric S. Dreiband, assistant attorney general for the Civil Rights Division, said the poll monitors were watching for incidents of discrimination, intimidation and harassment but reported no major civil rights violations in Florida on Election Day.

"The work of the Civil Rights Division around each federal general election is a continuation of its historical mission to ensure that all of our citizens can freely exercise this most fundamental American right," he said.

DOJ poll monitors weren't the only ones keeping a close eye on Florida's elections. On the orders of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, the Florida National Guard sent members to several locations across the state on Election Day, according to spokeswoman Lt. Col. Caitlin Brown. The guardsmen were sent in case they need to respond to any civil unrest following Election Day.

Five Florida National Guard members are also assisting the Florida Department of State with cybersecurity as elections officials continue to count and verify votes, Brown said.

Although some South Florida business owners boarded up store windows as a precaution, there have been no reports of civil unrest despite the polarizing presidential race.

Following several last-minute campaign appearances by both candidates in the battleground state, Trump won by a close margin in Florida, according to the Associated Press. The wire service said it called the race for Trump at 12:34 a.m. Wednesday, after an analysis of ballots statewide concluded there were not enough outstanding to allow Democratic nominee Joe Biden to catch up.

Florida is typically decided on razor-thin margins and Trump carried the state in 2016 by 1.2 percentage points. It is one of the biggest Election Day prizes, offering 29 electoral votes.
With 96 percent of the expected vote counted, Trump led Biden by over 375,000 votes. The remaining vote left to be counted in Democratic-leaning areas of the state was not enough to overcome Trump's lead of about 3 percentage points, the wire service said.

To win, Biden needed to run up massive margins in the three heavily Democratic counties in south Florida. But early returns showed him underperforming in Miami-Dade County.

Congressional, Legislative Results And Reaction

There were no big surprises in Florida's congressional and legislative races.

Most of the Democratic and Republican incumbents were re-elected and hopes of flipping traditionally red seats to blue and vice-versa were dashed.

In particular, Democrats pulled out all stops to gain control of the District 15 congressional seat located along the traditionally undecided Interstate 4 corridor. While Republicans have dominated in north Florida and Democrats in south Florida, the high-growth I-4 corridor has become a battleground with critical seats up for grabs by either party.

It would have been a political triumph for Democrats to gain control of the District 15 congressional seat, which includes Polk and portions of East Hillsborough and Lake counties.

The seat has been held by Republicans since the 1980s including Adam Putnam, Charles Canady, Dennis Ross and currently Ross Spano.

However, Democrat Alan Cohn, a former television journalist, failed to swing voters.

Scott Franklin, a Lakeland city commissioner, captured 215,839 votes to Cohn's 173,700 votes, insuring the seat remains firmly in grasp of the Republican Party.

"I'm forever grateful to my friends and family who’ve helped me along this journey," said Franklin to supporters Tuesday night. "Now, let's get to work."

Also holding on to her District 15 congressional seat was Tampa Democrat Kathy Castor, although her opponent, Tampa Republican Christine Quinn has yet to concede. District 15, located in Hillsborough County, another I-4 corridor county, re-elected Castor with 223,227 votes to Quinn's 147,276 votes.

"I will not concede until every ballot is verified," Quinn said. "Voter fraud is prevalent on all levels and will be thoroughly investigated."

Nevertheless, Castor was quick to acknowledge her win Tuesday night.

"I am so proud of the Democratic candidates up and down the ballot," she said. "The grassroots energy and dedication from volunteers and voters was inspiring and gave me so much hope for our community and our country. I am looking forward to getting back to work, fighting for climate justice, affordable health care, economic progress and protecting our small businesses."

Despite a heavy social media presence that included a congratulatory tweet from President Donald Trump on her victory in the August primary, St. Petersburg Republican Anna Paulina Luna was unable to wrestle the Pinellas County District 13 congressional seat from Charlie Crist, D-St. Petersburg.

Crist received 215,179 votes to Luna's 190,547 votes.

"I am honored and humbled to have the privilege to serve my Pinellas neighbors in Congress for the next years," Crist said.

Luna, however, vowed that voters haven't seen the last of her.

"Although tonight did not go our way, this is not the end of the road," Luna said. "Patriotism and public service are lifelong endeavors."

On the other side of the state, the residents of Miami-Dade welcomed their first woman mayor. Daniella Levine Cava defeated Esteban Bovo with 576,569 votes to Bovo's 491,797.

"Tonight, we made history together," Levine Cava said. "There's no place in the world like Miami-Dade. I'm honored to be the next mayor of such a vibrant and special place."

Patch Editor Tiffany Razzano and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

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