Democrat Gillum concedes defeat in Florida's gubernatorial race

Andrew Gillum, the Democratic gubernatorial candidate in southeastern US state Florida, on Saturday officially conceded to his Republican rival Ron DeSantis after a vote recounting showed a margin Gillum was unlikely to close.

The results of the machine recount ending Thursday in the state showed that DeSantis, a House Representative and an ally of US President Donald Trump, maintained a lead over Gillum of 0.41 per cent, Xinhua news agency reported.

"Now that we are rounding that process out, R. Jai and I wanted to take a moment to congratulate Mr. DeSantis on becoming the next governor of the state of Florida," Gillum said in a Facebook video alongside his wife R. Jai.

The Tallahassee mayor initially conceded to DeSantis last week, but revoked that statement after further vote counts showed DeSantis' lead was narrowing.

Gillum ran a progressive campaign, promoting policies such as Medicare for all.

The state's Senate race, between Democratic Senator Bill Nelson and Republican Governor Rick Scott, and Florida's race for agriculture commissioner are currently in the midst of a hand recount.

Florida counties face a deadline of noon Eastern Time (GMT 1700) on Sunday to submit their election results by hand recount, according to local media reports.

Florida law requires a hand recount when the leading candidate's margin is 0.25 or less. Scott led by about 12,600 votes, or 0.15 per cent of the more than 8 million votes cast following a machine recount, said the reports.

--IANS

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