The victory party's already rocking at the Biltmore in Coral Gables where 300-plus journalists -- not only from Florida but from all over the world -- are jockeying for position in a cavernous ballroom. Only thing missing is the victor. One bowled-over British photographer asked Sunshine State News, "What a madhouse. Will Rubio run for president in 2012?" Who knows. But Charlie Crist might hope so. He'll be looking for a race to suit up for.

The 'Election Victory Night' rally, as it's called on the press credentials, officially kicked off at 6 p.m., but more than two dozen camera crews from all over the state and national media outlets have been here ready to go since about 2 p.m.

With polls closing in Florida at 7, keep an eye on Sunshine State News. Well keep you informed about the races in Florida -- some of which look close. Well be posting articles and blogs all through the night.

With less than two hours of voting to go, Democratic operatives Steve Schale and Eric Jotkoff are Tweeting that African-American turnout is "higher" than 2006 levels in Escambia and Miami-Dade counties. If true, this news from polar ends of Florida is encouraging for Democrats, who must overcome the GOP's advantage in early voting and "enthusiasm." Or is it just spin to delay the inevitable demoralization that will set in later tonight?

Amid projections of a GOP takeover of the U.S. House and a pickup of Senate seats, the National Education Association pitched $40 million to Democratic candidates this year. "It could have been worse" will, no doubt, be the union's rationale for its record spending to stanch the bleeding on Capitol Hill. The NEA said it laid out $17 million for TV, mail, radio and phone calls in four Senate races and seven House races, one of which was the Ron Klein-Allen West tilt in Florida's 22nd Congressional District.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Rick Scott, along with CFO candidate Senate President Jeff Atwater, released a web video on Tuesday, showing the two men in Jacksonville on Election Day, encouraging their backers to come out and vote. Scott clearly sounds optimistic saying, We think were going to win big. Most polls show Scott in a close battle with Democratic nominee Alex Sink.

An explosive radio ad produced for Alex Sink's campaign says Republican Rick Scott "does not want [Hispanics] to speak Spanish or English with an accent." The ad, in Spanish, portrays a father and his daughter stopped by a police officer, who demands to see their "papers." The script: (Sound of police car siren) Girl's voice: Dad, pull over, you are being stopped for speeding. Father: I am sorry officer it looks like I was speeding. Officer: Do you speak English? I need to see your papers.

Florida Republican U.S. Rep. Connie Mack, the ranking Republican on the U.S. House Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, weighed in on the election of Dilma Rousseff as president of Brazil. Im hopeful that the election of Ms. Rousseff will allow our relationship with Brazil to move forward and lead to greater security and prosperity in the region, said Mack. Cooperation with this important player in Latin America is a key to U.S. foreign policy in the region, and it is my hope we will be able to strengthen our partnership with Brazil under Ms. Rousseff.

Attacking a "fake" TEA Party candidate and a 527 front organization, the Republican Party of Florida today demanded that the state teachers' union stop making "robo-calls" in the agriculture commission race. The campaigns calls reportedly are being made on behalf of Scott Maddox, a former Democratic Party chairman who is running against Republican Adam Putnam.

Rick Scott and the Republican Party of Florida want to make sure there's no funny business going on Nov. 2. Today they announced an "Honest Voter Hotline" so Florida voters can notify them of any voting irregularities at the polls. With tomorrows election, our Honest Voter Hotline will allow Floridians to receive assistance or report any problems at the polls said Rob Jakubik, Scott spokesman. The hotline will allow us to learn about, and take steps toward, remedying any voter irregularities at polling places throughout the state."

Public Policy Polling released its final look at the races in Florida -- and confirmed what two earlier polls released on Monday showed, including one from Sunshine State News:a tight gubernatorial race and Republican candidate Marco Rubio headed to the U.S. Senate.

Quinnipiac University released a poll on Monday and, like the poll Sunshine State News released, it shows Democratic candidate Alex Sink leading by the skin of her teeth in the gubernatorial race while Republican Marco Rubio was crushing the field in the U.S. Senate race. The poll of likely voters had state CFO Sink taking 44 percent with Republican businessman Rick Scott at 43 percent.

With Republicans licking their lips over the victories they expect at the polls on Tuesday, they are being warned by former Gov. Jeb Bush that this does not constitute a mandate. Bush argued in an interview with the New York Times that the Republicans will pick up seats because Americans are fed up with the Obama administration and congressional Democrats--not because they are backing the Republicans.

In what has to be the political understatment of the year, Wall Street Journal columnist Matthew Kaminski writes: "At first, the local [Florida] press didn't take Marco Rubio's candidacy seriously." Kaminski goes on to detail the media's gradual conversion, as evidenced by the half-dozen Democratic-leaning newspapers that have endorsed Rubio.

Confirming what a Sunshine State News Poll found two weeks ago, the Cook Political Report shifted Florida's 2nd Congressional District from "toss-up" to "lean Republican." That's probably an understatement at this point, as Republican Steve Southerland is handily outpolling Rep. Allen Boyd. Southerland's margin over the six-term incumbent in the North Florida/Panhandle district was 50-38 in the Oct. 14-17, and nothing in the race's dynamics has changed since then.