US mid-terms: Rick Scott wins contested Florida Senate race

(BBC) Floridas outgoing Republican Governor Rick Scott has declared victory in a contested Senate race in the state. The vote was subject to a recount after his lead in the 6 November ballot fell to less than 0.5. The final result showed Mr Scott beat three-term incumbent Democrat Senator Bill Nelson by just more than 10000 votes from the 8.19m cast state-wide. Republicans including the president had alleged voter fraud in the race and Democrats alleged voter suppression. Lawyers representing Senator Nelsons campaign also launched legal challenges to support the recount effort but he eventually conceded on Sunday afternoon. Florida is a important US swing state and has a history of marginal election victories so the knife-edge result was not a major surprise. The tight and well-publicised race evoked memories of Floridas infamous 2000 presidential recount which ended only after intervention from the US Supreme Court. In a statement on his Facebook page on Sunday almost two weeks on Mr Scott confirmed his opponent had conceded . Read More