(Bloomberg) -- Floridians are facing the prospect of a recount in several of Tuesday’s key political battles. At least one top Republican is already casting doubt on the process.
In a series of tweets, GOP Senator Marco Rubio -- who was not on the ballot -- said lawyers for the Democrats “are here to change the results of the election," not ensure transparency. And he said the process opens the door for Democrats to “steal a seat in the U.S. Senate & Florida Cabinet."
Florida recounts the votes if the margin of victory is 0.5 percent or less. At last count, three races appeared to meet that threshold: the Senate race between incumbent Democrat Bill Nelson and Republican Rick Scott; the governor’s race between Democrat Andrew Gillum and Republican Ron DeSantis; and the state agriculture commissioner race between Democrat Nikki Fried and Republican Matt Caldwell.
Any recount would be the state’s first since 2000, when the 35-day saga in the presidential race between George W. Bush and Al Gore persuaded Florida to ditch the paper punch-card ballots of hanging chad fame.
In the governor’s race, the Gillum campaign -- which conceded the race on Tuesday -- issued a statement Thursday saying that new information may change matters and it was bracing for a possible recount. And the Miami Herald reported that Florida’s Secretary of State Ken Detzner had told county election officials to plan for possibly three highly publicized recounts.
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