|
 Scott, 61, addressed supporters in Bonita Springs on the southwest
coast after receiving a phone call from Crist and called for unity
after a bitter race. “It’s time to put all the division behind us
and come together. Forget the partisanship,” Scott said.
"Florida is on a mission, and that is to keep growing," he added,
vowing to make Florida the nation's No. 1 job creator.
Crist, 58, emerged soon after in St Petersburg echoing Scott's call
to bury the hatchet. "What is most important is that we come
together as a state," he said.
In a good night for Republicans, they also comfortably held on to
all statewide posts of attorney general, chief financial officer and
agriculture commissioner, as well as solid majorities in both houses
of the legislature, according to official results with 99 percent of
precincts counted.
 A constitutional amendment to expand the legalization of medical
marijuana was narrowly defeated, according to the state Division of
Elections.
There was some solace for environmentalists who had strongly backed
Crist, with approval by a stunning 75 to 25 percent margin of an
amendment to protect the environment through water and land
conservation. The measure is projected to raise billions of dollars
over the next 20 years from real estate taxes.
In north Florida, Democrat Gwen Graham, daughter of former senator
and state governor Bob Graham, narrowly ousted Republican Steve
Southerland. But Republicans got sweet revenge in south Florida,
where one-term Democrat Joe Garcia lost to Carlos Curbelo in an
all-Cuban-American clash.
In the governor's race, Scott won by 1.3 percentage points, or
77,000 votes out of almost 6 million cast.
[to top of second column] |
Crist, Florida's former Republican governor who was seeking the job
back as a Democrat, notably failed to get the large turnout in urban
Democratic strongholds of south Florida, while Scott fared better
with rural voters in the north and central areas of the state,
according to official results.
Turnout was 50 percent statewide, but in heavily Democratic Broward
County in south Florida, which Crist won by a wide margin, it was
only 43.5 percent. In Miami-Dade County, where Crist also won
handily, it was a feeble 40.5 percent.
The two candidates disagreed on almost every issue, from same-sex
marriage and medical marijuana to Cuba policy and raising the
minimum wage.
Voters endured some 190,000 mostly negative television ads costing
more than $95 million according to the nonpartisan Center for Public
Integrity, more than any other governor's race in the country.
Crist accused Scott of being “out of touch” with working Floridians,
while Republicans painted Crist as an opportunist who left the party
to run unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate as an independent in 2010
before becoming a Democrat in 2012.
(Additional reporting by Zachary Fagenson in Miami Beach and Barbara
Liston in Orlando; Editing by Eric Beech and Eric Walsh)
[© 2014 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2014 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
