As Florida officials continue to count ballots and the margin shrinks in the governor’s race between Democrat Andrew Gillum and Republican Rep. Ron DeSantis, Gillum signaled Thursday he’s not quite ready to give up the fight, even though he already conceded in the race.
The Gillum campaign issued a statement saying that it would continue to monitor the race and would be open to a recount if the margin continues to shrink.
“On Tuesday night, the Gillum for Governor campaign operated with the best information available about the number of outstanding ballots left to count. Since that time, it has become clear there are many more uncounted ballots than was originally reported,” the campaign said in a statement. “Our campaign, along with our attorney Barry Richard, is monitoring the situation closely and is ready for any outcome, including a state-mandated recount. Mayor Gillum started his campaign for the people, and we are committed to ensuring every single vote in Florida is counted.”
As of early Thursday afternoon, Gillum trailed DeSantis by about 43,000 votes, just 0.6 percent. Under Florida state law, a margin of 0.5 percent or less would trigger a machine recount of the ballots, and a margin of .25 percent or less would trigger a hand recount.
The Senate race in Florida is also likely headed to a recount, with Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson trailing Republican Gov. Rick Scott by just 0.2 percent as of Thursday afternoon.
