Republicans Show Strong Lead in Early Voting

Republicans are coming out in force for early voting. Supervisor of elections' offices around Florida are reporting more than 750,000 absentee and early votes already cast in just the first couple of days, and Republicans have the clear advantage.

The Republican Party of Florida published these numbers today:

Requested absentee ballots: Republicans lead by 228,930 a 13.21 percent lead over Democrats. In 2008, Republicans had an 8.89 percent lead by Election Day. Then, President Obama only won by 2.8 percentage points after a massive ad blitz.

Voted absentee ballots: Republicans lead by 112,534 absentee votes a 21.88 percent lead. In 2008, Republicans had a 10.8 percent lead on Election Day.

Early voted: Republicans lead by 15,281 votes an 11.32 percent lead (Monday and Tuesday). In 2008, Republicans were losing by 73,384 votes at this point in 2008.By Election Day, Republicans had lost the early vote by 23.97 percent.

"We dont expect to win early voting, but any lead at all is shocking at this point and a testament to the incredible enthusiasm amongst Republicans," RPOF spokesman Dan Conston said.

Analysts expect 5 million to 5.5 million votes to be cast by the end of the election.