But there was no huge surge in Democrat-rich Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties.Intriguingly in the three counties, the total number of people who early voted Saturday was greater than Sunday--the day when black voters were expected to have the first of two "Souls to the Polls" voting events after church.
Some Democrats are starting to panic. It's an understandable feeling. Mid-term election turnout in the big three urban counties is historically abysmal, which is a major reason why Republicans hold every statewide elected office but one.
This is a warning sign for Democrat Charlie Crist
...the politically androgynous former governor of Florida...
"This is horrible," one South Florida consultant told me.
Crist should be concerned. And some of his supporters are. But they're not panicking yet because of two big data points:
1) Gov. Rick Scott is plowing his own millions into his campaign, which is making the Republican-consulting class more uneasy with Scott's chances. If $64 million in TV ad spending has bought the governor only a tie, what will millions more do?
2) Though Republicans have racked up a lead in pre-Election Day ballots, Democrats have been slowly bringing the percentage margin down over the past week.
Crist advisor Steve Schale said by email that Democrats were doing much better than in 2010:
Driven by a very good Saturday, the Democrats cut the Republican advantage by nearly a point from 9.2% to 8.3%. This compares to the 18.1% advantage that the GOP had in 2010....
African American turnout on first Saturday was up 191% over 2010's same day in Duval, 125% in Dade and 60% in Broward. Over the entire election, African American turnout in those three counties is up 44% in Broward, 61% in Dade and 195% in Duval County.