“It turns into turnout… what happens on the last weekend of early voting in Florida will make a critical difference in our state.”
Dr. Ed Moore, President, Independent Colleges & Universities of Florida
Click the image above to watch Dr. Ed Moore, President of Independent Colleges & Universities of Florida, and Andy Gonzalez, Director of Political Development for the Florida Chamber of Commerce, discuss the General Election, and how voter turnout will be crucial to many races in Florida.
“There are a number of congressional races and state senate races in particular that are going to be heavily influenced by voter turnout, that could go either way and it’ll be driven by the top of the ticket what ends up happening in those districts,” said Dr. Moore. “Getting out to vote early is critical, but both parties are doing a pretty good job this year.”
“Just looking historically at the last primary, over 60 percent of the vote was had in early voting and vote-by-mail. And as we fast forward to the general election, we see about four million Floridians have already cast their vote for this election, and its split pretty evenly between vote-by-mail and early voting, ”said Gonzalez. “What’s interesting is we see an increase in vote-by-mail. When you look at the demographics of those voting-by-mail, it’s Republicans, women and those over the age of 50.”
As far as top of the ticket is concerned, this isn’t the first time voters have been faced with candidates for presidents that, polling shows, they don’t like.
“In my lifetime, the McGovern/Nixon election is comparable to this in that nobody really likes the candidates,” said Dr. Moore. “And in 1972, that was the same way… it’s going to be driven by turn out.”
Where Will You be on Election Night?
Join us in Tallahassee on Nov. 8 for our General Election Watch event. Not able to make it? RSVP today for our Post-General Election Analysis. Visit www.FloridaChamber.com/ElectionWatch for more details.