As his lead in the Senate race shrinks, Republican Florida Gov. Rick Scott sues 2 Democratic counties

On Thursday night, Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R), who ran for Senate against incumbent Sen. Bill Nelson (D), filed suit against Broward and Palm Beach counties, accusing "unethical liberals" of trying to steal the election.

Scott is suing as a Senate candidate, not the governor. On Tuesday night, the race was too close to call, with Scott in the lead. The race has tightened as more votes have been counted, and Scott is now asking the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to investigate the official counts. Scott claims that Broward County and Palm Beach County supervisors are engaging in "rampant fraud," and he alleged that "left-wing activists in Broward County have been coming up with more and more ballots out of nowhere."

As of Thursday night, Scott has 15,092 more votes than Nelson, The Tampa Bay Times reports. Dan McLaughlin, a spokesman for Nelson, called Scott's action "politically motivated and borne out of desperation," and said "the goal here is to see that all the votes in Florida are counted and counted accurately."

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up