BROWARD COUNTY, FL - As Republican Gov. Rick Scott and Democratic challenger Charlie Crist hunkered down to await results Tuesday night in their fierce battle to lead Florida, the Crist campaign unsuccessfully went to court seeking to keep polls open an extra two hours in the Democratic stronghold of Broward County.
A judge rejected a request for an emergency injunction, which was sought because of reports of problems at revamped precincts. Dan Gelber, a Crist adviser and former top Democratic lawmaker, told reporters gathered at the Vinoy Renaissance resort in St. Petersburg that there were hour-long lines in at least three predominantly black precincts in Broward County.
"We got a lot of reports that a lot of people were unable to get their addresses updated so they could know which precinct to go to," Gelber, a lawyer, said.
While the request to keep the Broward polls open until 9 p.m. was unsuccessful, it added to the suspense of a governor-vs.-governor match-up in one of the nation's top races this year.
Supporters of Crist, a onetime Reagan Republican trying to get his old job back as a Democrat, gathered at the Vinoy in the Democratic candidate's hometown. Meanwhile, Scott backers were at the Hyatt Regency Coconut Point in Bonita Springs, not far from the Republican's Naples home.
In the ballroom at the Scott event, a black backdrop surrounded a simple stage with a lectern on it. The lectern had a sign with Scott's trademark "Let's Keep Working" slogan on the front. Privately, Scott staffers said they were confident but believed it would be a very tight race. There were few indications that Scott's campaign prediction from a day earlier --- "They're going to announce at 8 o'clock that we are going to kick Charlie's rear" --- would come true, at least at that hour.
In one last apparent attempt to push conservative voters to the polls, Scott's camp leaped on news that President Barack Obama had done a radio pitch for Crist. Republicans have tried to tie the recently minted Democrat to Obama, who is deeply unpopular in much of Florida.
"Send them a message --- we won't stay home this Election Day!" Scott said in an email to supporters. "And we won't turn back to the days of job losses and higher taxes under Charlie Crist and Barack Obama."
The email was an eleventh-hour example of the scorched-earth campaign between Scott and his predecessor that was one of the most expensive in Florida history. Combined, the two candidates spent nearly $100 million on television ads, mostly blasting each other.
Scott and his supporters relentlessly attacked Crist as a flip-flopper who can't be trusted and who drove the state into an economic meltdown before Scott took office four years ago.
Crist, who previously ran statewide as a Republican three times and as an independent once, has painted Scott as a wealthy Republican who, like others in the party, is out of touch with everyday Floridians.
Crist and his supporters also tried to capitalize on Scott's tenure as chief executive of Columbia/HCA, a hospital corporation that paid more than $1 billion in fines to the federal government for Medicare fraud, the largest fine in the nation's history at the time.
Crist's campaign banked on an intensive ground game, shepherded by staffers who helped Obama nail down victories in 2008 and 2012 in swing-state Florida, to reverse the typically lackluster Democratic turnout in mid-term elections like this year.
Crist enlisted Annette Taddeo, who was raised in Colombia and is a former county chairwoman of the Miami-Dade Democratic Party, as his running-mate with an eye on drumming up support from women and Hispanics, two demographics considered critical for a win in Florida.
And Crist also focused on black voters, who, like Hispanics, tend to vote in huge numbers during presidential elections and who played a large role in Obama's Florida victories in the past two elections but whose turnout drops off significantly in mid-terms.
For months, Crist has spent Sunday mornings visiting black churches where he delivered the message that he better represents middle-class Floridians.
Meanwhile, Scott has stumped in mostly white enclaves in Central and North Florida, such as The Villages, an upscale retirement community near Ocala.
Crist spent Tuesday morning speaking with national television news programs before last-minute campaigning in Tampa.
"The message is we're here for you. That's what this is about. This is about the people. This is about Maria from Miami who doesn't have health insurance because Medicaid hasn't been expanded. This is about Consela from Miami who lost her Bright Futures scholarship because of Rick Scott. This is about them. They are severely affected in our community. I think we are going to see the light tomorrow when the sun comes out in the sunshine state," Taddeo told reporters gathered at the Vinoy late Tuesday evening.
