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Nelson: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% >90% McCollum: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% >90% Tie: 40–50% 50% No votes | |||||||||||||||||
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The2000 United States Senate election in Florida was held on November 7, 2000, on the same date as theU.S. House of Representatives andpresidential election. Incumbent Republican SenatorConnie Mack III decided to retire instead of seeking a third term. DemocratBill Nelson won the open seat, even as Republican presidential nomineeGeorge W. Bushnarrowly triumphed overAl Gore in the state by a mere 537 votes.
Bill McCollum's 46.19% popular vote percentage is the highest for a losing Republican United States Senate candidate in Florida.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Bill McCollum | 660,592 | 81.13% | |
| Republican | Hamilton A. S. Bartlett | 153,613 | 18.87% | |
| Total votes | 814,205 | 100.00% | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Bill Nelson | 692,147 | 77.48% | |
| Democratic | Newall Jerome Daughtrey | 105,650 | 11.83% | |
| Democratic | David B. Higginbottom | 95,492 | 10.69% | |
| Total votes | 893,289 | 100.00% | ||
This election was in conjunction to thepresidential election, where Bush narrowly defeated Gore after an intenserecount. The Senate election was evenly matched, with two U.S. Congressmen named Bill in their mid-50s. Both parties heavily targeted this senate seat.[2] The election became very nasty as Nelson called his opponent "an extremist who would sacrifice the elderly, the poor, and the working class to coddle the rich." McCollum called the Democrat "a liberal who would tax everything that moves, and some things that don't." The election advertisements were very negative, as both candidates talked more about each other than themselves.[3]
Nelson raised onlysoft money,[4] but had help from Gore and PresidentBill Clinton. Two days before the election, McCollum predicted he would win by a 6-point margin.[5] On election day, he lost by a five-point margin.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Bill Nelson | 2,989,487 | 51.04% | ||
| Republican | Bill McCollum | 2,705,348 | 46.19% | ||
| Independent | Willie Logan | 80,830 | 1.38% | ||
| Natural Law | Joe Simonetta | 26,087 | 0.45% | ||
| Independent | Darrell L. McCormick | 21,664 | 0.37% | ||
| Reform | Joel Deckard | 17,338 | 0.30% | ||
| Independent | Andy Martin | 15,889 | 0.27% | ||
| Write-in | Nikki Oldaker | 88 | 0.00% | ||
| Total votes | 5,856,731 | 100.00% | |||
| Democraticgain fromRepublican | |||||
Official campaign websites (archived)
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