At 10:25 p.m. Tuesday, with 160,000 votes still to be counted in Palm Beach County and Republican outsider Rick Scott ahead of Democrat Alex Sink by 110,000 votes, Sunshine State News called the gubernatorial race for Scott.
The former health-care executive's campaign team saw victory in the numbers, too. But Sink did not.
With less than 2 percentage points separating herself and Scott, at 12:15 a.m. Wednesday, she addressed the 300 supporters at her Marriott Waterside-Tampa election party.
"We're Floridians, so we know what it means to count every single vote," she told the crowd. "So this is what we're going to do. We're going to let the people of Florida -- all the people of Florida -- have their voices heard."
Meanwhile, at the Hilton Fort Lauderdale Marina at his victory party, Scott and running mate Jennifer Carroll joined their cheering supporters after 1 a.m. Wednesday.
Scott had hoped to cap his stunning insurgent campaign by completing a GOP sweep of statewide offices. But he found himself talking of victory still in future terms.
"We know we're going to win, we have won, and we look forward to getting this state back to work," Scott told them. "... Based on the numbers we are seeing now, after all the votes are counted, I am absolutely confident that I will be the next governor ..."
"I was there," said Violet Williams, a preschool teacher from Delray Beach. "I could just feel how confident he is. He knows he's won. He knows she (Sink) is going to want a recount."
In the most expensive political race in Florida history, Scott spent $70 million of his personal fortune while the state Democratic Party and unions poured millions into Sink's campaign.
Both campaigns blitzed the airwaves for months with hard-hitting ads. While Scott tried to tie Sink to an unpopular president, labeling her an "Obama liberal," Sink hammered Scott for his role at Columbia/HCA, which paid a $1.7 billion Medicare fine after his departure.
Scott limped into the fall campaign after a bruising primary battle against Attorney General Bill McCollum. McCollum did not endorse Scott until Oct. 22, and he made no public appearances on Scott's behalf.
But Scott rode an electoral wave that saw Republicans extend their control of Cabinet-level posts and tighten the party's grip on both the state House and state Senate.
Fueled by a tea party movement that attracted independent voters and animated the Republican base, the Scott campaign fended off a full-scale assault by the state Democratic Party, labor unions and Sink's own prodigious fund-raising channels.
Scott and the Republicans were especially effective at amassing a huge advantage in early and absentee voting.
According to unofficial estimates, the GOP had a turnout advantage over Democrats of 276,987 among all early and absentee voters. That compared with a deficit of 354,374 in 2008 and a more modest 147,019 edge in the 2006 midterm election.
One observer projected that Sink could not win if the GOP had a 300,000-vote edge going into Election Day. Scott and the Republicans didn't quite get that by 3 a.m. Wednesday, but it likely will be enough.
Robin Stublen, a tea party activist in Punta Gorda, said, "It is a good feeling to know that the hard work and dedication from grass-roots groups across Florida has resulted in a victory for Rick Scott."
On the other end of the political spectrum, Kenneth Quinnell, director of the Florida Progressive Alliance, said Scott's election -- when it is declared -- "shows that if you spend an unlimited amount of money, you can buy an election in Florida and erase any problems you might have in your past.
"Republicans will have no excuses now," he added. "They will have unprecedented ability to pass their agenda.If problems like unemployment and budget shortfalls aren't fixed in a short period of time, we'll know who to blame."
A Sunshine State News Poll on election eve showed Scott leading Sink 49-45.
--
Contact Kenric Ward at kward@sunshinestatenews.com or at (772) 801-5341. Contact Nancy Smith at nsmith@sunshinestatenews.com or at (850) 727-0859.
