Florida

FLORIDA

25 Electoral Votes

Population
(Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Florida Secretary of State)

Total Population, April 1, 2000	15,982,378
Voting Age Population, Nov. 2000	11,774,000	% change from '96 +6.3
Total Registration, Oct. 10, 2000	8,752,717

Dem. 3,803,081 (43.45%) Rep. 3,430,238 (39.19%) minor 165,967 (1.90%) No Pty Aff. 1,353,431 (15.46%).
Florida has: 67 counties.
Largest counties: Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, Hillsborough, Pinellas.
Largest cities: Jacksonville, Miami, Tampa, St. Petersburg, Orlando. (Miami-Ft. Lauderdale is the largest metropolitan area).

Government
Governor: Jeb Bush (R) elected in 1998.
State Legislature: Florida Legislature House: 45D, 75R Senate 15D, 25R
Local: Counties, Cities NACO Counties
U.S. House: 15R, 8D - 1. J.Scarborough (R) | 2. A.Boyd (D) | 3. C.Brown (D) | 4. T.Fowler (R) | 5. K.Thurman (D) | 6. C.Stearns (R) | 7. J.Mica (R) | 8. B.McCollum (R) | 9. M.Bilirakis (R) | 10 C.W.B.Young (R) | 11. J.Davis (D) | 12. C.Canady (R) | 13. D.Miller (R) | 14. P.Goss (R) | 15. D.Weldon (R) | 16. M. Foley (R) | 17. C.Meek (D) | 18. I.Ros-Lehtinen (R) | 19. R.Wexler (D) | 20. P.Deutsch (D) | 21. L.Diaz-Balart (R) | 22. E.C.Shaw (R) | 23. A.Hastings (D).
U.S. Senate: Connie Mack (R) retiring in 2000, Bob Graham (D) re-elected in 1998.

Changes as of the November 2000 Elections
State Legislature: All 120 House seats and 20 of 40 Senate seats were up; only minor changes resulted. House 43D, 77R Senate 15D, 25R.
U.S. House: 15R, 8D - No change in the partisan balance of the delegation. Ten of the 20 incumbents seeking re-election did not face a major party challenger. Three new members were elected to fill seats opened up by retirements: 4. A.Crenshaw (R); 8. R.Keller (R); and 12. A.Putnam (R).
U.S. Senate: Democrats picked up Connie Mack's seat as Bill Nelson (D) was elected.

State of Florida
Secretary of State

Constitution Party of FL
FL Democratic Party
Green Party of FL
Libertarian Party of FL
Natural Law Party of FL
Reform Party of FL
Republican Party of FL

Miami Herald
St. Petersburg Times
Media (Newsp.)
Media (TV)

Politics1-FL

The Sunshine State

General Election -- Tuesday, November 7, 2000

Past Results
1996

Clinton (Dem.).....2,546,870	(48.02)
Dole (Rep.)..........2,244,536	(42.32)
Perot (Ref.)............483,870	(9.12)
Others (1+w/ins)......28,518	(0.54)
Total........5,303,794

1992

Bush (Rep.)........2,173,310 (40.89)

Clinton (Dem.).....2,072,798 (39.00)

Perot (Ind.) .........1,053,067 (19.82)

Others (1+w/ins)......15,317
(0.29)

Total........5,314,492

Results
2000

Bush/Cheney (Rep.)	2,912,790	(48.85)
Gore/Lieberman (Dem.)	2,912,253	(48.84)
Browne/Olivier (Lib.)	16,415	(0.28)
Nader/LaDuke (Grn.)	97,488	(1.63)
Harris/Trowe (SWP)	562	(0.00)
Hagelin/Goldhaber (NLP)	2,281	(0.04)
Buchanan/Foster (Ref.)	17,484	(0.29)
McReynolds/Hollis (Soc.)	622	(0.00)
Phillips/Frazier (Const.)	1,371	(0.02)
Moorehead/LaRiva(WWP)	1,804	(0.03)
Chote/Lancaster (w/in)	34	-
McCarthy/Beifus (w/in)	6	-
Total........5,963,110

All told about 6.1 million people cast ballots in Florida. According to the Florida Task Force report there were 179,855 blank or spoiled ballots; this includes uncertified results from 3 counties. The Miami Herald, in its post-election analysis, examined 176,087 uncounted ballots: 111,261 overvotes and 64,826 undervotes, while. USA Today examined 171,908 untabulated ballots: 111,261 overvotes and 60,647 undervotes. The Florida Ballots Project suggests a total of around 172,000. However, all these numbers depend on what is counted. For example in some of the larger counties there were "trays and trays" of absentee ballots where, for example, the signatures didn't match, that didn't get counted.

Turnout as a percentage of voting age population was 50.65%. (U.S. avg: 53.76%).

Overview
It took a 36-day post-election odyssey to finalize the outcome, but Gov. Bush officially won Florida by 537 votes. The election was decided as much in the courts as at the polls (Battle for Florida), and there will always be doubts in some people's minds about who won. Bush carried 51 counties and the federal absentee ballots, while Vice President Gore won in 16 counties. The Democrats' base in Florida is in the southeast (Palm Beach, Broward, Miami-Dade), while Republicans fared well in rural counties. Thus in many ways the race came down to the I-4 corridor, which runs across central Florida from Tampa Bay through Orlando to Daytona Beach.
General Election Activity

State Primary held September 5, 2000

Presidential Preference Primary: Tuesday, March 14, 2000

Statutes--Presidential preference primary

Republican Primary

	Total Vote	Percent
Gary Bauer	3,493	0.50%
+George W. Bush	516,161	73.81%
Steve Forbes	6,552	0.94%
Orrin G. Hatch	1,371	0.20%
Alan Keyes	32,343	4.62%
John McCain	139,397	19.93%
Total	699,317

Total Delegates
80 of 2,066 (3.9%).

Democratic Primary

	Total Vote	Percent
Bill Bradley	100,259	18.16%
+Al Gore	451,657	81.83%
Total	551,916

Total Pledged Delegates
161 of 3,537 (4.6%).
Total Delegates
185 of 4,335 (4.3%).