 |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
Florida
Electoral Votes: 27 (+2 since 2000)
2000 Results: Bush 48.85%, Gore 48.84%, Nader 2%
Recent Polls
FOX News: Kerry 49%, Bush 44%, Nader 1%
(Oct. 30-31; margin of error +/-3.0%)
Insider Advantage: Kerry 48%, Bush 48%, Nader 1%
(Oct. 29-31; margin of error +/-5.0%)
Zogby International: Kerry 48%, Bush 47%
(Oct. 28-31; margin of error +/-4.1%)
Quinnipiac University: Bush 51%, Kerry 43%, Nader 1%
(Oct. 27-31; margin of error +/-3.0%)
CNN/USA Today/Gallup: Kerry 50%, Bush 47%
(Oct. 28-30; margin of error +/-4.1%)
Mason-Dixon: Bush 49%, Kerry 45%
(Oct. 27-29; margin of error +/-4.0%)
Population: White 65.4%, Hispanic 16.8%, Black 14.2%, Asian 1.6%
Urban Population: 89.3%
Rural: 10.7%
Median Income: $38,819
Unemployment: 4.5%, as of August
Forecast: People still can't agree which side won in 2000. And the lawsuits have already started.
The Friday before election day, almost 17% of Floridians had already voted—at early voting polling places or by absentee ballot. Election officials think turnout could be 70% or more. That's crucial because the candidates are still neck and neck, with most polls showing a slight Bush lead. And the problems have already started. Almost 60,000 absentee ballots in Broward County never made it to voters. Republicans are planning on challenging some new voters at the polls. One voter was arrested after he allegedly swerved his car toward Katherine Harris.
The state population has swelled in the past 20 years, and most of the new arrivals are young families, not retirees. So many immigrants have come from Argentina, Venezuela and Colombia that Cubans now make up less than half of the Sunshine State's Hispanic population. It's probably easier to divide Florida into chunks: The Panhandle and the Northern third of the state, including Pensacola and Jacksonville, is part of Dixie, home to several military bases and reliably Republican. The southern Gulf Coast, including Sarasota and Naples, is also G.O.P. country. The largest population area, Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach Counties, is overwhelmingly Democratic, despite the efforts of Little Havana's older Cuban population. Then there's the corridor of young suburbs stretching from Tampa to Orlando to Daytona Beach where high-tech and tourism jobs lured in many of the state's newest residents. This area decided the election in 2000 and could do so again.
Counties to Watch: Hillsborough, Pinellas, Hernando, Madison, Monroe, Pasco
|
|
|
|
|
|
