Florida: Elijah and Soto Claim House Wins as Both Races Miss the Recount Margin

Two Central Florida races for the U.S. House were all but settled on Saturday. Republican Ryan Elijah claimed victory in Florida's 7th Congressional District, and Democratic Rep. Darren Soto claimed a narrow win in the 9th District, after county canvassing boards submitted their unofficial results to the state and both margins landed just outside the threshold for an automatic recount.

Florida Secretary of State Cord Byrd determined there will be no recount in the race between Elijah and Democrat Bale Dalton, the Daytona Beach News-Journal reported. The Associated Press had yet to call either race when the Saturday reports were published. Results will not be final until the Elections Canvassing Commission certifies them on Nov. 17.

District 7: nine votes from a recount

Elijah was ahead by 1,631 votes after Volusia and Seminole counties submitted their first unofficial results on Nov. 6. The results stood at 49.843 percent for Elijah to 49.338 percent for Dalton, with Libertarian Christopher Dennison pulling just over 1 percent.

The margin was just outside the 0.5 percent of total votes cast required under Florida law for a machine recount, said Gretl Plessinger, communications director for the Florida Secretary of State's Office. Central Florida Public Media put Elijah's Saturday lead at 0.503 percent and reported that his race was nine votes away from triggering a recount.

"I am honored by the faith the people of Central Florida have placed in me and will work to maintain their trust each and every day," Elijah said in a statement to the News-Journal. Dalton, who has yet to concede, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Nov. 7 through his campaign.

Dalton won Seminole County by a 54 to 45 margin, while Elijah took Volusia County by 57 to 42. The 7th District covers all of Seminole County and part of Volusia County, is Republican-leaning, and was left untouched when Republican lawmakers redrew the state's congressional map this spring.

Elijah resigned from an Orlando TV news anchor job to run, and he beat embattled incumbent U.S. Rep. Cory Mills in the primary. Mills has represented the seat since 2022 and lost the primary amid a congressional investigation into allegations that he violated campaign finance laws. Dalton is a Navy combat veteran and a former NASA chief of staff who raised $2.3 million.

Both counties expect to keep receiving overseas ballots from U.S. service members and citizens abroad. Those ballots must be received by Nov. 13 to be counted, but Elijah said the remaining ballots will not mathematically change the outcome.

District 9: Soto holds on

Soto led Republican Dan Green by 0.53 percent on Saturday, a margin of 1,506 votes, up from 1,464 votes on Friday morning. On Friday, the Osceola County canvassing board reviewed provisional ballots and mail ballots with flagged signatures. The ballots added in that review broke 61 for Soto and 25 for Green.

Soto represents Osceola County and south Orange County. He is the only Democrat representing a majority Hispanic district in Florida. The new map roughly tripled the size of his district and cut the Hispanic share of its vote from 55 percent to 40 percent, and he still held the seat.

Turnout

Statewide turnout was just shy of 61 percent, the highest state average since 1994 except for the 2018 midterms. Orange County reached nearly 58 percent, and Osceola County nearly 56 percent, its highest midterm turnout since 1994.