FL-HD45: With most ballots counted, Leonard Spencer (D) unseats indicted Carolina Amesty (R) in HD 45

Gotha Democrat Leonard Spencer on Election Night held a razor-thin lead over indicted Republican Rep. Carolina Amesty in House District 45. But that lead has grown as election officials counted more ballots.

With all precincts reporting in Orange and Osceola counties, Spencer leads with 48,343 votes to Amesty’s 46,747. A large batch of Orange County vote-by-mail ballots tabulated on Wednesday morning puts Spencer’s lead at nearly 1.7 percentage points. Florida law triggers a recount if the difference between candidates falls within 0.5% of all votes cast, but the difference in this race is now more than three times that amount.

Spencer’s current lead of 1,596 votes now sits at a much larger amount than election officials reported Tuesday night. At midnight, Spencer held just a 217-vote lead. But that gap grew after Orange County election officials opened nearly 38,000 additional vote-by-mail ballots.

“We have achieved an incredible victory together as we flipped House District 45, and I am honored and humbled to have earned the trust and support of this community. Thank you to the volunteers who gave countless hours, the supporters who believe in this vision, and the community members who showed up for change. This victory belongs to all of us,” Spencer said in a prepared statement.



https://floridapolitics.com/archives/705971-leonard-spencer-leads-indicted-carolina-amesty-as-hd-45-seemingly-heads-for-recount/