- Poignant final words from Davis, and that’s a wrap
- Crist speech over, the real party begins
- Davis entourage takes the podium
- Crist goes on before Davis’ concession speech
- Davis concedes
- Maps are bleeding
- ‘Tude takes a downturn at Davis camp
- Crist about to give victory speech
- Waiting game at the Crist headquarters
- MSNBC barely makes a ripple
- Busanky concedes
- Fat lady HASN’T sung, Davis camp insists
- What, us worry?
- Crist Wins Says MSNBC, AP
- Keeping hope alive at the Davis camp
From Anthony McCartney, Davis HQ:
“We have everything in the world to be proud of,” Les Miller says before introducing Davis’ running mate, Daryl Jones.
“I am absolutely proud of the work we did over the last two months,” Jones says in opening his remarks.
The crowd is being gracious with their applause. It is smaller than it was earlier in the night, probably about 200 strong.
“It was an honor for me to be on this ticket with Jim Davis,” Jones said. His speech is short, and he passes the podium on to Davis.
Davis, who traded in his white shirt from the campaign trail today, is now in a blue shirt and coat and tie.
“Aww, you’re a beautiful group,” Davis says.
“Tonight we came close to pulling off a political miracle,” Davis tells the crowd, saying he was vastly outspent.
“We gave it our best. There’s no sense in looking back,” he says.
He seems confident, and the crowd applauds his message.
“I think I should feel very sad or disappointed right now,” he says. He doesn’t, he tells the crowd, telling them how honored he has been to serve them.
Every once in awhile, there’s is a tinge of sadness in his voice that wasn’t there when I spoke to him when the polls closed.
But there’s also shades of gratitude and sincerity as he praises his supporters.
“Thank you is such an inadequate word. You have stood by my side. You have covered my back.
“I have tried my best to live up to your standards every day.
“Thank you much for standing with me.”
From Julie Pace, Crist HQ:
With his family and campaign supporters lining the stage behind him, Charlie Crist arrived to deliver his victory speech.
Crist congratualted his opponent Jim Davis on an honorable campaign and said Florida is better for his service.
Crist’s speech focused on unity.
“No group is above another,” he said. “Each Floridian will have a voice in all that we do.”
After pledging to uphold his campaign promises to lower homeowner’s insurance and improve education, Crist headed into the crowd to greet his supporters, some of whom had been waiting here for nearly five hours.
The music is blaring, the balloons are popping, and many here look like they’re ready to start the next round of partying.
From Anthony McCartney, Davis HQ:
Governor-elect Charlie Crist isn’t done giving his speech, and a roar of applause just went up through the room in the Davis camp.
They’re not applauding Crist’s call for unity, they’re clapping for Jim Davis and his entourage appearing in the banquet hall for the first time tonight.
The crowd is giving Davis a long standing ovation, and waiting for him to speak.
He’ll speak behind State Senator Les Miller and running mate Daryl Jones.
From Anthony McCartney, Davis HQ:
We just got word that Crist is giving his victory speech before Davis gives his concession speech.
The banquet hall at the Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay is far from full right now, with everyone waiting to hear from Davis.
Crist just appeared, and again, a few boos were heard.
The crowd at Davis’ party just quieted down to listen to Charlie Crist’s victory speech.
Crist credited Davis running a “honorable campaign.”
“It sure was an honorable campaign,” one Davis supporter just said.
People were pretty lukewarm about Crist’s call for unity.
From Anthony McCartney, Davis party HQ:
Davis spokesman Josh Earnest just confirmed that Davis just called to congratulate Florida’s next governor, Charlie Crist.
The news is trickling through the room now, and the giant television monitors just reported the news.
A few BOOS echoed through the room.
From Julie Pace, Crist party HQ:
While we’re waiting on Charlie, the campaign is scrolling through the vote tallies, county by county. There is an awful lot of red on the map. Still, just how far apart the two candidates were depends on where you are getting your information.
The Associated Press has Crist up by seven; the figures we’re getting in the ballroom have him up by six; and the state board of elections has Crist leading by about 5.5 points.
Regardless of the numbers, there’s still no sign of Crist. Right now, it looks like the ball is in Jim Davis’ court.
From Anthony McCartney, Davis party HQ:
I just took a cruise through the crowd at the Davis party.
The cash bar is open, but the sparse selection of food that was set out is beginnning to show its age.
There are a lot more glum faces than there were an hour ago, and the crowd is thinning.
The crowd does have its moments of life, cheering the numbers coming in for certain national races. The Democrats have won control of the House of Representatives, and people cheer.
Most of the people who remain are anonymous supporters and volunteers, but a few Tampa politicos are wandering through the room. Former Tampa City Councilman Rudy Fernandez is here, standing a few feet away from attorney Ralph Fernandez (no relation). Councilwoman Linda Saul-Sena is also apparently here, although I didn’t lay eyes on her.
But the crowd is thinning, the cheers are few and far between, and the lettuce on the buffet is wilting.
From Keith Cate, Crist HQ:
It’s over. Everyone has projected Charlie Crist the winner. He will be appearing on stage shortly to give his acceptance speech. The margin of victory here: 6 percent.
From Julie Pace, Crist party HQ:
Right, now it’s a waiting game.
The crowd is waiting to hear from Charlie Crist.
Charlie, we’re told, is waiting on a phone call from Jim Davis.
Reporters are waiting for somebody to say something (deadline is rapidly approaching...).
A loud cheer just went up in the ballroom. CNN, which has been playing here all night, has just declared Crist the winner. Still, we’ve had no word from the Crist campaign.
From Julie Pace, Crist party HQ:
While MSNBC has called the election for Crist, news doesn’t seem to have reached the more than 1,000 people here at the Vinoy. We did hear one loud cheer a few minutes ago, but that was only because a television camera was panning the crowd.
The results being shown on the screen have held steady at 53 percent for Crist and 47 percent for Davis for the past hour.
As soon as we get some news in the ballroom, we’ll pass it on to you.
Rod Challenger, Busansky party HQ:
Phyllis Busansky arrived at her election night party in a convertible. The Democratic candidate said, even though she didn’t win, she and her campaign workers made history by cracking a traditional Republican stronghold and making her race with Gus Billirakis much closer than people expected. She said her campaign was an example of how voters across the country are changing Congress, and she predicted that many of the programs she campaigned for will now be passed. Busanky addressed her supporters about 10 tonight as returns showed her trailing Billirakis by too many votes to make up when all the ballots were cast. Busansky urged her followers to continue to enjoy the party and celebrate all they had accomplished.
From Anthony McCartney, Davis party HQ:
Josh Earnest, a spokesman for Davis, just said the Associated Press’ tally and the official tally from the Florida Secretary of State are off by about 300,000 votes, two-thirds of which were cast for Davis.
Earnest said there’s a long way to go in the night, and the votes coming in are for Davis.
This is spin, of course, but you can listen to it here. (Earnest Audio)
While Earnest was giving a briefing for television reporters, Earnest was handed a new set of numbers by an aide. They show Crist getting 1.7 million votes, Davis getting 1.6.
From Anthony McCartney, Davis party HQ:
The announcement that the Associated Press has called the race in Crist’s favor registered barely a blip at Davis’ party.
A few people have pained looks on their faces, but many people didn’t notice the announcement.
They did just notice when a Davis flak said on live T.V. that there are “many more votes to be counted.”
Charlie Crist is the next governor, according to MSNBC and to the Associated Press.
This from MSNBC.com: New face in FloridaPosted: Tuesday, November 07, 2006 9:48 PM by Alan Boyle
NBC News projects that Republican Charlie Crist will be elected Florida governor, taking the place of fellow Republican (and presidential brother) Jeb Bush.
From Anthony McCartney, Davis party HQ:
I just took a walk through of the Davis party. There’s a couple hundred people here at least, and the mood continues to be pretty upbeat.
A couple hundred feet from the party’s interest, I overheard a man wearing a white Davis T-shirt tell another man in a suit that the gap between Davis and Crist had closed to five points.
Most of South Florida hadn’t come in yet, the man said excitedly. Davis is now trailing by about seven points in Hillsborough.
A quick scan of the Florida Secretary of State’s web site shows that a number of Panhandle (read: Red) counties still haven’t posted their returns either.
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