[ot-caption title=”Florida Democratic gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist, left, shakes hands with Gov. Rick Scott their debate in Jacksonville, Fla. (via AP Photo/The Florida Times-Union, Will Dickey, File-Pool)” url=”https://pcpawprint.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/midterm.jpg”]

On Tuesday, November 4th, Americans went out to cast their votes in the most anticipated midterm election. Prior to the elections, the Republican Party dominated the House of Representatives, while the Democratic Party controlled the Senate. Now, the GOP dominates both houses in Congress.

The race for governor of Florida was a head to head battle with Republican Rick Scott against Democrat Charlie Crist. Rick Scott won the election by only a .9% edge over Crist. Scott received 2,861,390 votes, while Crist received 2,795,263 votes. Also elected was Republican Jeff Miller to the House, and the Democratic Senator Bill Nelson. Scott criticized Crist as a “political opportunist” and a supporter of President Obama. Near the end of the campaign, Scott and his wife had put a total of $13 million of their own money into advertisements and support. Both competitors issued aggressive TV commercials attacking the opponent. Scott’s  campaign could have been the determining winning factor.

Other issues that were voted on during the midterms included the legalization of medical marijuana, water and land conservation, and the governor’s role in filling judicial vacancies. Needing 60% to pass, the legalization of medical marijuana fell short by 2%. While 3,335,435, or 58%, voted yes for the legalization, more than 2.4 million voted no. The legalization would’ve allowed for a citizen to use medical marijuana without the fear of criminal prosecution under state law.  The water and land conservation amendment, which implies that a trust fund must be created to acquire, restore, improve, and manage conversation lands, would be passed by dedicating 33% of net revenues from the existing excise tax of documents for 20 years. Floridians approved the conservation amendment with 75% voting yes, and only 25% voting no. The third amendment did not pass, prohibiting governors to fill judicial vacancies by appointing a justice or judge from a slate of nominees. The amendment failed with 52.1% no vote.

For more information regarding last week’s midterm election results, click here.

Sources: Ballotpedia, Bay News, Politico, Voter Focus, WTSP News, NBC News, Save the Water