Miami
FLORIDA Darren Soto keeps a razor-thin lead over Dan Green in Florida’s 9th District and heads to a recount
The Democrat entered the race as one of the cycle’s most vulnerable incumbents after Florida’s map redraw. With nearly all ballots counted, the margin fell within the state threshold for an automatic machine recount.
Democratic U.S. Rep. Darren Soto held a very narrow edge over Republican challenger Dan Green in Florida’s 9th Congressional District, a margin small enough to trigger an automatic machine recount, according to Florida Politics.
With almost all votes counted, Soto stood at 50.22% and led Green by 1,235 votes. That margin equals 0.44% of more than 284,000 ballots cast, which is below the 0.5% threshold in Florida that requires a recount. Florida Politics reported that fewer than 400 votes were still untabulated, not enough to erase Soto’s lead or move the race out of recount territory.
The result came in a district reshaped by Gov. Ron DeSantis, in a redraw that added counties Soto had never represented. Florida Politics said more than 58% of the district’s 2024 voters backed Donald Trump, while fewer than 41% supported Kamala Harris.
According to the outlet, Soto raised more than $3.65 million, compared with Green’s $2.69 million. Of Green’s total, $2.24 million came from candidate loans, while Soto’s money came from donors. As of Oct. 14, Soto had about $250,000 on hand and Green roughly $450,000.
Florida Politics noted that Soto entered the race with a long political record in Central Florida, after serving in both the Florida Senate and the Florida House before Congress. The outlet also pointed to his work on the House Agriculture Committee and to Spanish-language outreach aimed at the region’s large Hispanic population.
Green, meanwhile, leaned on his military background. The outlet reported that he worked in the Pentagon during the Sept. 11 attacks, later served in Iraq and Afghanistan, and in 2019 was appointed by Trump as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Strategy and Force Development.
The Republican candidate, from Vero Beach, also drew institutional support. Florida Politics said the National Republican Congressional Committee placed him in its MAGA Majority program and that he was endorsed by Trump, DeSantis, and several sheriffs from counties inside the district and nearby areas.
On polling, Soto’s campaign released two internal SEA Polling surveys showing a dead-even contest: both candidates were at 41% in August and 44% in October, according to Florida Politics.
For the outlet, Soto’s slim advantage means the Republican-led redraw did not deliver one of the party’s top House pickup targets, at least in this race.
Sources
About this piece. Written by El Notero with AI assistance, from reporting published by the outlet cited above. El Notero did no original reporting on this story.
