A week after Election Day, Miami-Dade is still recounting nearly 250,000 ballots in Florida’s 27th District, and two Senate races — Alaska and Mississippi — hit key counting milestones Tuesday.
Why it matters
Democrats already control both chambers. These races decide how big the Senate majority is — and who represents a slice of Miami.
Miami: 1,090 votes
- GOP Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar entered the automatic machine recount leading Democrat Eliott Rodriguez by 1,090 votes (0.44 points). CBS Miami says it should wrap Tuesday.
- A margin of 0.25 points or less triggers a hand recount, assistant county attorney Michael Valdes told NBC 6.
- Federal Judge David Leibowitz refused to remove Elections Supervisor Alina Garcia, whose daughter and son-in-law represent Salazar’s campaign and who told the Miami Herald Salazar won “with or without a recount.” Politico reports the judge reprimanded her remarks. Garcia denies a conflict.
Alaska: lead grows
- Mary Peltola leads Sen. Dan Sullivan 106,321 to 103,804 first-choice votes (48.6% to 47.5%), up from a 637-vote margin, per the Anchorage Daily News. A larger batch was due Tuesday.
- Ranked-choice tabulation is Nov. 18; certification Nov. 25.
- Sullivan and Trump are questioning the results over a namesake candidate, Dan J. Sullivan, per the Juneau Independent — a claim we have not seen evidence for. The state Supreme Court already rejected a challenge to his candidacy.
Mississippi: last day for ballots
- Scott Colom leads Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith by 2,574 votes (about 0.28%), per AP as of Monday. AP hasn’t called it.
- Tuesday is the deadline for mail ballots to arrive and for affidavit voters to verify ID (5 p.m. local). Counties certify by Nov. 13.
- Mississippi has no recount law, so any fight goes to court.
Our view
Recounts and late counts aren’t theft — they’re the part of elections that happens after the TV maps go dark. The irony: in Miami a Republican elections chief is under suspicion; in Alaska a Republican senator suspects his namesake. Everyone trusts the process right up until it stops helping them.
FAQ
When will the Miami recount end? Expected Tuesday, unless the margin falls to 0.25 points or less.
Who’s winning Alaska? Peltola leads on first choices; final tabulation is Nov. 18.
Why no call in Mississippi? The margin is under 0.3% with ballots still being verified.
Read also
- Miami recount: Salazar vs. Rodriguez
- Peltola sues Alaska over rejected ballots
- Mississippi Senate: Colom vs. Hyde-Smith
Sergey Danilov
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