Dem Lawyers Head to Fla.; GOP Fears Bid to 'Steal' Election

Democrats are gearing up for a legal fight over what could be multiple recounts in the state of Florida — including the gubernatorial and Senate seat races Republicans believe they had won Tuesday, the Washington Examiner reported.

Just 17,429 out of 8,165,741 votes cast in Senate race separate the GOP Gov. Rick Scott, who is leading, from incumbent Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., the news outlet reported.

In the governor's race, Ron DeSantis, a former GOP congressman, leads Andrew Gillum, the Democrat, by 38,600 votes out of 8,200,905 votes cast.

But in Broward County —a Democratic stronghold that played a pivotal role in the 2000 presidential election Florida recount that delayed President George W. Bush's election for 37 days — more than 24,700 votes were tallied for a gubernatorial candidate but no candidate for Senate.

Democrats have suggested that indicates large numbers of votes for Nelson could be missing.

"There's an army of lawyers down there now that are working on the recount," Democratic National Committee chair Tom Perez said at a Christian Science Monitor breakfast Thursday, the Washington Examiner reported. "And I'm glad they're doing that."

And that has Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., worried about attempts to "steal" seats.

"Now Democrat lawyers are descending on #Florida," Sen. Rubio tweeted. "They have been very clear they aren't here to make sure every vote is counted. They are here to change the results of election; & #Broward is where they plan to do it."

• Dem Sen. Nelson to Seek Recount in Florida Race
• Recount Likely in Florida Governor Race