MOST OF TUESDAY’S ELECTIONS are “in the books.”
There are a few races still being contested – two races in Florida are close. The apparent loser, incumbent U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, and the apparent winner, former Gov. Rick Scott, probably will force a manual ballot recount. (In Florida, a race that ends with the candidates only ½ percent apart requires a recount.)
In the other race, Democrat Andrew Gillum, although conceding late Tuesday night, may push for a manual recount to see if Florida’s voters really did prefer his GOP opponent, Ron DeSantis. The race for the governorship was close, albeit not as close as the race for a seat in the U.S. Senate.
Gillum’s concession was strictly “I’ll be back,” with no words about working together with the governor-elect.1
DeSantis, in his victory speech, called Gillum “a very formidable opponent” and added that he “wished him well in his future endeavors.”2
Gillum is an Obama Democrat and DeSantis is a Trump Republican.
- Gillum carried the liberals in the major metro areas. DeSantis’ base was in the rest of the state.
Neither Gillum’s concession speech nor DeSantis’ victory speech focused on working together to make the state a better place. (Both candidates, based on campaign rhetoric share similar interests for the state; it was their approaches that make the difference.
Scott’s victory speech – which may be premature – was focused on “coming together.” He spoke about a nasty campaign, adding that “we’ve been doing this for 200 years” and now the campaign is over and “it’s time to come together.”3
None of the candidates, however, has the class of Mike Hale.
Concession speech as it should be
Hale’s concession speech4 and interview with a local tv station5 is an excellent example of how a candidate should concede.
Hale told the tv interviewer that
- “I think the key thing right now the deputies are going to keep answering the calls. In January they will be his deputies. They are a great bunch of men and women, well trained. He’s trained. He’s well-trained. He’s going to do a good job.
The sheriff-elect simply thanked those who came out and voted for him. In his interview by the tv station, he said nothing about the outgoing sheriff.
Alabama governor’s race
Losing gubernatorial candidate Walt Maddox called for all citizens of Alabama to support Gov. Kay Ivey.6
- "I want to offer my sincere congratulations to Gov. Ivey on her election as governor. The voters have spoken, and she has earned the sacred responsibility of leading our state.
“Clearly the governor and I have policy differences. But one fact supersedes them all: We are all Alabamians. The governor and her team are going to face difficult challenges, and they deserve our prayers. And they also deserve our full support.”
Unfortunately, as with many winners – Ron DeSantis being an exception – Gov. Ivey chose not to acknowledge her opponent.
Sources
1. Gillum concession: http://tinyurl.com/y8edb8ar
2. DeSantis victory speech: http://tinyurl.com/yacjogoz
3. Scott victory speech: http://tinyurl.com/yajmxwhn
4. Hale concession speech: http://tinyurl.com/ybchecwp
5. Hale interview: http://tinyurl.com/y9yjnzlx
6. Maddox concession: http://tinyurl.com/ycy97c8a
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