Elections officials are reporting “medium” voter turnout throughout the state with no back-up at lunchtime and isolated lines before work hours this morning.

“It seems like an average of medium,” Department of State spokeswoman Jennifer Davis said late this afternoon.

Light turnout could bode well for GOP gubernatorial candidate Rick Scott, whose campaign blocked nearly all of the 589 rooms at the waterfront Hilton Fort Lauderdale Marina hotel for his election party.

Republicans have outpaced Democrats in early and absentee voting for the first time.

Historically, midterms have far lower voter turnout than presidential elections, particularly among blacks and
young voters who were so crucial to President Obama’s success two years ago.

“I don’t know if it was a matter of too little resources or they were too late, but I know they are getting a lot of criticism and a lot of local Democratic candidates are very upset about it,” said University of South Florida political science professor Susan MacManus.

The biggest voter turnout for a governor’s race was in 1994, when Jeb Bush lost to the late Gov. Lawton Chiles by 1.6 percent.

That was also Florida’s closest governor’s election, a benchmark that may be outstripped by today’s election that’s a dead heat going into Election Day.

By JENNIFER SORENTRUE and ALLISON ROSS

Palm Beach County Commissioner Jess Santamaria is under fire for giving $1,000 through one of his businesses to the political action committee pushing Amendment 4.

The constitutional amendment, which on today’s ballot, aims to give voters greater say in development approvals.

Campaign finance records show that one of Santamaria’s companies, Royal Industrial, contributed $1,000 to Florida Hometown Democracy in July.

In an email message, Pahokee Mayor JP Sasser blasted the donation, saying the amendment would be “disastrous for the entire state.”

“My fellow elected officials in the Glades will not make a public stand for their cities,” Sasser wrote. “They don’t want to bite the hand that feeds them and are afraid of Mr. Santamaria. You should be afraid of Jess Santamaria – very afraid.”

Supporters of the amendment argue the measure would give voters a say in future growth decisions.

But opponents say it would bring development across the state to a standstill at a time when state leaders are trying to revive Florida’s economy and lure jobs.

CORAL GABLES — For those who cast ballots in a school cafeteria or church fellowship hall today, consider the voters of Miami-Dade precinct 429, who exercise their rights in the Majorca Room at the Biltmore Hotel.

The international media have already begun arriving at the Biltmore for Republican Senate candidate Marco Rubio’s election-night party tonight.

Rick Scott and his wife Ann voted at a church near their Naples home this morning then hopped on a private plane for some last minute campaigning in Jacksonville and Tampa.

Under cloudy skies as a light drizzle fell, Scott said he was confident of a victory over Democrat Alex Sink despite polls showing the race is a dead heat.

“We’re going to win,” Scott told reporters standing outside St. Ann Catholic church as a light drizzle fell. “This race is about jobs. We need jobs. I’m going to do everything I can to get this state back to work.”

Scott’s mother Esther, elevated to celebrity status after starring in several of her son’s television campaign ads, sat in an SUV as the Scotts cast their ballots.

Esther Scott can’t vote for her because she lives in Kansas City, Mo.

“I’m going to change that law,” she joked.

Scott will finish up the night in Ft. Lauderdale.

No matter who wins today’s too-close-to-call governor’s race, history will be made.

Democrat Alex Sink would become the first female chief executive in state history. On the Republican side, Rick Scott’s running mate, Jennifer Carroll, would become what is believed to the first black female lieutenant governor in the nation and certainly the first ever in Florida.

“There are many path-breaking elements,” said Susan MacManus, a political science professor at the University of South Florida. “Frankly, it’s very exciting.”

An earlier version of this post omitted the word “female” when referring to Carroll.

ST. PETERSBURG — About 30 sign-waving supporters turned out this morning in the pre-dawn hours here to cheer independent U.S. Senate candidate Charlie Crist as he arrived at his home precinct to vote.

Emerging from an SUV with his wife and ever-present FDLE agents in tow, the governor said he was “excited” about the prospect of voting but dodged questions about whether he believed he could beat heavily-favored GOP candidate Marco Rubio. Crist and Democratic candidate Kendrick Meek trail the former state house speaker in the polls.

“Today is the day we have to thread the needle and it is a fine needle to thread,” he told a gang of reporters. “I’m going to vote for Charlie Crist today. Let’s do it.”

While his wife of two years joined him, she didn’t vote. Carole Crist, a multi-millionaire former head of a family-operated New York-based costume business, has been by her husband’s side throughout the campaign, including the weekend’s rigorous three-day bus tour of the state. She said she voted early.

While there have been rumors that Crist would endorse Democratic gubernatorial candidate Alex Sink to be his replacement over GOP candidate Rick Scott, he declined to say who he voted for in the governor’s race. “It’s a secret ballot,” he said.

While he has no official campaign events today, he is expected to wave signs on a busy street corner at noon.

ORLANDO — Speaking to several hundred voters Monday night, former President Bill Clinton stumped for Alex Sink and Kendrick Meek and chided Republicans for the big deficits that came before and after his two terms.

In a nod to the tea party’s influence in an election that’s expected to go badly for Democrats, Clinton pointed to his years in the White House as rare examples of balanced budgets and robust job growth.

“Where is the love?” Clinton asked. “I oughta be the tea party’s poster child.”

Speaking from an outdoor stage near Lake Eola, Clinton also bashed Republicans for cutting taxes for the wealthiest Americans.

“I don’t know why I’m not over there at one of their rallies,” he said. “They’re just throwing money at me.”

(more…)

Republican Senate frontrunner Marco Rubio’s campaign has fielded 291 requests for media credentials for Tuesday’s election-night festivities at the Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables.

Rubio spokesman Alex Burgos said the requests include at least 75 from foreign outlets, including radio reporters from the Czech Republic, West Africa, China; TV crews from the Congo, Columbia, Japan, France, Spain; and print reporters from Germany, New Zealand, Argentina and the UK.

At least 40 television cameras are expected.

The Palm Beach Post reporters will cover the election-night gatherings for Senate candidates Rubio, Democrat Kendrick Meek and indie Charlie Crist.

TAMPA — Alex Sink spoke to about 250 enthusiastic supporters tonight at a club in Ybor City. A live funk band fired up the crowd with a version of “Sweet Caroline” that sounded like the words had been changed to “Sweet Adelaide,” Sink’s given first name.

Sink didn’t stray from the stump speech she has been delivering for the past week. She scoffed at Rick Scott’s big spending and repeated her support for public schools.

“The future of Florida is at stake,” Sink said.

She was surrounded by prominent Democrats, including former Gov. Bob Graham and U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson.

State Sen. Dave Aronberg, D-Greenacres, worked the crowd with zingers about the rightward tilt of the state legislature. If Scott wins, Aronberg said, Florida will have to change its name to “Florissippi.”

Now Sink is headed to a 10 p.m. rally in Orlando with former President Bill Clinton and U.S. Senate candidate Kendrick Meek.

ST. PETERSBURG — At 5:47 p.m. today, his rented Beechcraft touched down in his hometown and Charlie Crist’s wild two-year ride for a seat in the U.S. Senate was over.

Yes, he’ll vote early today and talk to reporters. And he may stand on a street corner and wave signs at passing motorists. But for all practical purposes, it’s now up to the voters.

Amid a crowd of about 100 supporters, Crist acknowledged he’s not expected to win. But, he said, people who greeted him at stops at six airports from Pensacola to West Palm Beach to Miami convinced him that  polls that show him  as much as 10 points behind GOP candidate Marco Rubio are wrong.

“At virtually every stop,  at almost every place we went, a Republican or a Democrat would come up to me and whisper to me and say, ‘Listen, my uncle’s an elected representative. He’s a Republican. I don’t want the cameras to see me, but I want you to know my whole family is going to vote for you but we haven’t told a soul.’ It’s like this covert operation around Florida,” Crist told the cheering crowd. Unfortunately, people feel intimidate by their party.”

(more…)

WEST PALM BEACH — On the 20th hour of a 24-hour statewide tour throughout Florida to gather last-minute votes, Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Kendrick Meek called Tuesday’s election a “political emergency” that needed the help of Palm Beach County Democrats.

“This election is so very, very serious,” Meek said this afternoon during a Get Out the Vote rally at the West Palm Beach Library. “This combination of Marco Rubio and Rick Scott at the same time is something that I think Florida will not be able to recover from. And I will do everything physically, mentally and spiritually to try to stop this.” (more…)

For the first time since early voting began in 2004, more Republicans than Democrats cast ballots in the two-week run up to Tuesday’s general election.

According to an analysis by Palm Beach Post writer Adam Playford, Republicans represented 44.6 percent of the 1.089 million voters who cast their ballots at early voting sites across the state that closed Sunday. Slightly more than 40 percent were Democrats and the rest weren’t affiliated with a major party.

Republicans, who have consistentlly lagged in early voting, have said the turnout shows their voters are energized about upsetting the Democrat-controlled Congress and throwing out incumbents.

In 2006, 43.6 percent of those who voted early were Democrats and 41 percent were Republicans. In 2008, with Democrats embracing Barack Obama, voting patterns were far more lopsided. A whopping 52 percent of early voters were Democrats compared with 30 percent who were registered Republicans.

Locally, early voting patterns reflected the political make up of area counties. In Palm Beach and St. Lucie counties, where Democrats outnumber Republicans, more Democrats voted early. In Martin County, a Republican stronghold, the GOP ruled early voting.

Of the 62,762 who voted early in Palm Beach County, nearly 48 percent were Democrats and 32.5 percent were Republicans. In St. Lucie County, where roughly 15,000 people voted, the breakdown was: 46.4 percent Democrats and nearly 37 percent Republicans. In Martin County, about 58 percent of the 12,000 who voted early were Republicans and 25 percent Democrats.

HIALEAH — Republican Senate frontrunner Marco Rubio, making his final pre-election campaign appearance at a GOP office here, said starting his campaign as an underdog in early 2009 forced him to keep true to his core beliefs.

Rubio has become a national conservative superstar with polls showing him holding a solid lead over independent Charlie Crist and Democrat Kendrick Meek heading into Tuesday’s election. But Rubio began the race as a longshot in the GOP primary against then-Republican Gov. Crist.

“I’m grateful and thank God every night that we had a difficult election early on because it forced us to know what we stood for,” Rubio told reporters. “When you don’t have money and you don’t have organization, all you have is your message and your core beliefs. Most campaigns when they’ve got a lot of money and a lot of staff, they don’t ever establish those core beliefs. I’m glad that’s how we started and I’m really glad that’s how we’re finishing.”

Rubio greeted about two dozen supporters at a campaign office that features a life-size cardboard cutout of conservative icon Ronald Reagan with a Rubio sticker slapped onto the Gipper’s chest. Rubio exchanged pleasantries in Spanish with the campaign workers, then conducted interviews in English and Spanish.

Just one day before the crucial vote that will decide whether his $75 million investment paid off, Rick Scott included West Palm Beach in a last-minute appeal to Republicans.

U.S. Sen. George LeMieux climbed on the stage with Scott, also joined by Palm Beach County homeboys U.S. Rep. Tom Rooney, outgoing Senate president and chief financial officer candidate Jeff Atwater, and a host of other local officials.

Mark Foley, who once held Rooney’s Congressional seat, also showed up in the crowd at Park Avenue BBQ Grille.

PBC businessman and longtime GOP donor Llywd Ecclestone, who escaped the restaurant parking lot heat under an awning, said he supports Scott’s plan to get the state’s economy back on track.

“He will create jobs and that’s what we need,” Ecclestone said.

But Scott’s pledge of 700,000 jobs is an ambitious goal, the developer acknowledged.

“It’s going to be difficult. It’s not going to be easy,” Ecclestone said.

(more…)

Democratic firm Public Policy Polling, which correctly forecast Rick Scott’s GOP gubernatorial primary win while most other polls showed Bill McCollum ahead, says the governor’s race between Scott and Democrat Alex Sink is too close to call.

PPP gives Sink a 48-to-47 percent edge in a Saturday-Sunday poll of 773 likely voters with a 3.5 percent margin of error.

In the Senate race, PPP says Republican Marco Rubio is headed for “an easy victory” with 47 percent to 30 percent for independent Charlie Crist and 21 percent for Democrat Kendrick Meek.

It might be jumping the gun a bit, but Rick Scott’s convoy got a courtesy sheriff’s escort out of town as the GOP gubernatorial candidate headed across the state to West Palm Beach on the day before the election.

The escort was a benefit of having Lee County Sheriff Mike Scott, no relation to the candidate, on your side. The sheriff provided escort without being asked, Scott’s campaign staff said.

The lanky Scott, who said he lost 10 pounds since launching his gubernatorial bid seven months ago, is en route to West Palm Beach for a barbecue lunch where he’ll be joined by U.S. Sen. George LeMieux.

Scott’s wife Ann has also shed some weight on the campaign trail, a switch from most candidates who plump up after visits to umpteen pancake breakfasts and barbecue meals.

When offered a choice of cookies on his campaign bus this weekend, Scott opted for the more decadent chocolate chip than oatmeal raisin.

“Two more days of eating bad,” he joked.

Quinnipiac University’s final pre-election poll, which wrapped up Sunday night, shows Republican Marco Rubio with a 45-to-31 percent lead over indie Charlie Crist in the U.S. Senate race, with Democrat Kendrick Meek at 18 percent.

The governor’s race is too close to call, with Democrat Alex Sink up 44-to-43 percent over Republican Rick Scott in an Oct. 25-31 poll of 925 likely voters that has a 3.5 percent margin of error.

Quinnipiac’s final pre-primary poll in August showed Meek with a 10-point lead over Democratic Senate primary rival Jeff Greene (Meek won by 26.5 points) and Bill McCollum topping Scott by 4 points in the GOP governor’s primary (Scott won by 2.8 percent).

Click here to read the complete poll.