Amid Broward County protests, here are the midterm races still up in the air

Florida’s messy recount battle is just one of many unsettled races.

November 9, 2018, 3:02 PM

Ongoing protests in Broward County and Florida's pending recount battle highlight twists and turns seen across the country in outstanding midterm races.

The delays nationwide, partially due to overwhelming voter turnout, have sparked a conversation about the efficiency of the nation’s voting mechanics.

Here are the states where constituents are still waiting to find out who will represent them.

Senate races to watch

Florida

In Florida, a razor-thin margin has the divided state gearing up for recounts in more than one race, including for senate. Incumbent Sen. Bill Nelson, the Democrat has refused to concede to Gov. Rick Scott, the Republican challenger, who currently leads by less than 0.2 percent with ballots across the state still uncounted.

State rules mandate a recount if the margin is less than 0.5 percent, which looks entirely possible, especially because two Democratic-leaning counties haven’t completed counting mail-in ballots — and one of them hasn’t finished counting early ballots, either. Many more counties continue to count provisional ballots. A recount could come as early as Saturday.

PHOTO: Florida Governor Rick Scott speaks during his election night party at the LaPlaya Beach & Golf Resort on Nov. 06, 2018 in Naples, Fla.
Florida Governor Rick Scott speaks during his election night party at the LaPlaya Beach & Golf Resort, Nov. 6, 2018 in Naples, Fla.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Scott carried a larger lead Tuesday night, but continues to see it dissipate as more votes come in. Scott has responded by accusing county election supervisors of corruption and filing lawsuits against them.

Scott is backed by support from the president, the GOP and Florida’s current Republican Sen. Marco Rubio.

A win for Republicans in Florida’s senate race would only add to the stinging loss of three key senate seats on Tuesday night in Indiana, North Dakota and Missouri, which are all states where Democratic senators faced re-election in states Trump won in 2016. But in Florida, where incumbent Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson is awaiting results against Republican challenger Gov. Rick Scott, Trump narrowly won the state by less than 1.5 percentage points.

Arizona

The Arizona Senate race to replace outgoing GOP Senator and Trump-critic Jeff Flake between Democrat Kyrsten Sinema and Republican Martha McSally was always going to be one of the closests contests of 2018, and it did not disappoint.

PHOTO: Democratic Senate candidate Kyrsten Sinema speaks to a supporter at the Barton Barr Central Library, Nov. 6, 2018 in Phoenix.
Democratic Senate candidate Kyrsten Sinema speaks to a supporter at the Barton Barr Central Library, Nov. 6, 2018 in Phoenix.
Rick Scuteri/AP

The most recent raw vote has Sinema with a lead of just under 2,000 votes over McSally, a shift from the post-election count that showed a nearly 1 percentage point lead for McSally. With talk of numerous lawsuits swirling, it could be weeks before we find out who the first woman to represent Arizona in the U.S. Senate will be.

Gubernatorial races to watch

Florida

Unlike the ongoing battle in Florida’s U.S. Senate race, the Democrat in the state’s gubernatorial race, Andrew Gillum, did concede to his Republican opponent, Ron DeSantis, on Election Night.

PHOTO: Democratic Florida gubernatorial nominee and Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum concedes the race to Rep. Ron DeSantis during his midterm election night rally in Tallahassee, Fla., Nov. 6, 2018.
Democratic Florida gubernatorial nominee and Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum concedes the race to Rep. Ron DeSantis during his midterm election night rally in Tallahassee, Fla., Nov. 6, 2018.
Shannon Stapleton/Reuters

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