Black Voters Key to Gore Win in Florida Black Voters Key to Gore Win in Florida
Tuesday November 7 9:04 PM ET
MIAMI (Reuters)Democrat Al Gore won Florida's 25 electoral votes on Tuesday in the race for the U.S. presidency, in part because of strong turnout among black voters invigorated when the state ended affirmative action programs, the state Democratic party chief said. Exit polling cited by ABC news said a whopping 94 percent of black voters in Florida cast ballots for Gore. State Democratic Party Chairman Bob Poe said black voters were energized by Florida Republican Gov.
Jeb Bush's ``One Florida'' plan, which ended minority set-asides in state contracts and eliminated race as a factor in admission to the state's 10 public universities earlier this year. The plan survived legal challenges by the NAACP and other civil rights groups, but stirred ire against the Florida governor, who served as state campaign chairman for his brother, Republican presidential nominee George W. Bush. ``We have to thank Jeb Bush for One Florida. That was the initial spark that ignited the African-American community,'' Poe said. ``They saw that they (Republicans) were going to turn the clock back.'' ``They (blacks) were energized, it was only up to us to get them mobilized and we did that, we got the job done,'' he said.
Other exit polls showed Florida's large bloc of elderly voters split evenly between Gore and Bush, while Gore held a small edge among Hispanic voters. While Florida's Cuban American voters have traditionally been overwhelmingly Republican, the state has seen an influx in recent years among Hispanics of Puerto Rican descent, who like most Hispanics nationwide lean toward Democrats. Bush held a slight lead among male voters, while Gore had the edge among the growing bloc of independent voters who are not registered as Democrats or Republicans, the exit polls suggested.
Republicans had initially expected an easy win in Florida, where Republicans control both legislative houses and the governor's mansion. But the state was considered a toss-up during the final weeks before Election Day and both candidates spent considerable time campaign there. Poe said Republicans were overconfident in the popular Florida governor's ability to draw votes for his brother, Republican presidential nominee Texas Gov. George W. Bush.
``They kept saying 'Jeb will deliver, Jeb will deliver.' Well, he didn't deliver,'' Poe said. ``The aura of invincibility is gone. The chink in the armor is there and we look forward to 2002.'' Under the presidential voting system, voters in 50 states and the District of Columbia select 538 representatives to the Electoral College, which in turn votes for the president. A candidate needs a majority of 270 electoral votes to win.
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