Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson, a Florida political icon whose career highlight may have been a trip on the space shuttle, conceded his bitterly close re-election bid to Republican Rick Scott on Sunday, ceding a razor-thin race to the outgoing governor after a tense and sometimes turbulent recount.
Nelson gave up his quest to further his longevity in power after days of acrimony and tense recounting leading to a midday Sunday deadline for Florida’s counties to turn in their official results. Florida will not officially certify the final totals until Tuesday, but the totals showed Nelson trailing Scott by slightly more than 10,000 votes.
“It has been a rewarding journey as well as a very humbling experience,” said Nelson in a statement. “I was not victorious in this race but I still wish to strongly re-affirm the cause for which we fought: A public office is a public trust.”
The stunning close of nearly two weeks of high political drama in the presidential swing state likely spelled the end of the political career of the 76-year-old Nelson. First elected to Congress nearly 40 years ago, Nelson had been a Democratic survivor in an era when Republicans swept to power in Florida. He went on to his first election in the U.S. Senate in 2000 and was making his fourth attempt at re-election.
For Scott, who was urged by President Donald Trump to challenge Nelson, it was his third narrow victory after jumping into politics eight years ago.
“Now the campaign truly is behind us, and that’s where we need to leave it,” Scott said in a statement. “We must do what Americans have always done: come together for the good of our state and our country. My focus will not be on looking backward, but on doing exactly what I ran on: making Washington work.”
Trump congratulated Scott on his victory on Twitter: “From day one Rick Scott never wavered. He was a great Governor and will be even a greater Senator in representing the People of Florida. Congratulations to Rick on having waged such a courageous and successful campaign!”
After it became clear that the race between Nelson and Scott would head to a legally required recount, Nelson and Democrats filed several lawsuits that challenged everything from Scott’s authority over the state’s election division to deadlines for mail-in ballots.