President Donald Trump took the first step in retaining the White House on Election Day, winning Florida with ease thanks to a “red wave” from Republican voters.
While pollsters predicted a close race in the pivotal battleground state, Republicans delivered for the President, showing up to the polls in record-breaking numbers. Trump took home over 5.6 million votes, while his opponent, Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, garnered 5.2 million votes.
Florida saw a monumental turnout in 2020, with nearly 11 million Floridians flocking to the polls. Tuesday’s total turnout smashed numbers from 2016 — with only 9.4 million votes being cast. While Democrats held a slim early voting advantage heading into Election Day (around 108,000 votes), Republicans quickly chipped away at the lead. By the time polls closed, registered Republicans cast over 4.2 million ballots to the Democrats 4 million. NPA/other voters accounted for 2.5 million votes.
Tuesday’s turnout was thanks in large part to the Republican Party of Florida and their efforts canvassing and getting their message out to voters. Senator Joe Gruters, who also serves as chairman of the RPOF, said Trump and down-ballot conservatives benefited from a Republican surge at the polls on Election Day.
“We crushed the Democrats on the ground, we crushed them in voter registration and we crushed them in turnout. This race was always about turnout,” said Gruters.
“We benefit from having the best Trump victory team in the country, a Governor who is committed to winning, grassroots party leaders who have been outstanding and a secret weapon in our down-ballot candidates — specifically house and senate campaigns.
“It was the cumulative effort that helped us deliver the states 29 electoral votes.”
We crushed the Democrats on the ground, in voter registration and by turning out our voters. Florida delivered for our home state President @RealDonaldTrump Thank you to Gov @RonDeSantisFl , The Trump Florida Victory Team, the @RNC and all of the @FloridaGOP Local Party leaders. pic.twitter.com/Z2kictQn2s
— Joe Gruters (@JoeGruters) November 4, 2020
While votes are still being tallied in the Sunshine State, Biden’s path to victory in the state has all but disappeared. The President currently holds close to a 400,000 vote lead over Biden, prompting Governor Ron DeSantis and Senator Rick Scott to call the race in Trump’s favor.
President @realDonaldTrump is up in Florida by almost 400,000 votes with more than 90% of precincts reporting. Why haven’t networks called the race? It’s a done deal and the refusal to recognize the obvious speaks volumes about the (lack of) objectivity of these outlets.
— Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantisFL) November 4, 2020
BREAKING: @realDonaldTrump has won the state of Florida!
We worked hard to deliver this state for President Trump and our voters SHOWED UP! pic.twitter.com/Qi9YDzc0hp
— Rick Scott (@ScottforFlorida) November 4, 2020
Decision Desk HQ has also called the race for Trump, while CNN acknowledged that he was “comfortably ahead.”