The Latest on Florida recount (all times local):
6 p.m.
Democrat Andrew Gillum says in ending his bid for Florida governor that the race "has been the journey of our lives" for the candidate and his wife R. Jai.
This image made from video posted on Andrew Gillum's Facebook profile on Saturday, Nov. 17, 2018, shows him with his wife, R. Jai, at a park in Florida. In the video, the Democratic gubernatorial candidate congratulated Republican Ron DeSantis but vowed to remain politically active although he gave no clues as his future plans. His term as Tallahassee mayor ends next week. (AP Photo)
Gillum posted a live video on Facebook on Saturday afternoon congratulating DeSantis. Gillum had conceded to Republican Ron DeSantis on election night, but retracted it after the margin between the two candidates narrowed. The race went to a legally required recount, but after an initial machine recount DeSantis still led Gillum by more than 30,000 votes.
In a statement from his campaign late Saturday, Gillum recalled how he had vowed earlier to "fight until the last vote is counted." He then adds that process has been gone its course and he wishes to congratulate DeSantis "on becoming the governor of the great state of Florida."
Adds Gillum, "This fight for Florida continues and I just wanted to thank you all for being along with us for at least this part of the journey, but the journey continues."
5:15 p.m.
Democrat Andrew Gillum says he is ending his hard-fought race for Florida governor and has congratulated Republican Ron DeSantis.
Gillum posted a live video on Facebook on Saturday afternoon in which he congratulated DeSantis. Gillum had conceded to DeSantis on election night, but retracted it after the margin between the two candidates narrowed. The race went to a legally required recount, but after an initial machine recount DeSantis still led Gillum by more than 30,000 votes.
Gillum, who is Tallahassee's mayor, isn't saying what he plans to do next.
"Stay tuned," he said in his brief remarks. Nonetheless, Gillum says he will remain politically active, adding "the fight for Florida continues."
Gillum's announcement came hours after President Donald Trump said on Twitter that Gillum will be a "strong Democrat warrior" and a "force to reckon with."
There was no immediate response from DeSantis or his campaign.
2:55 p.m.
A South Florida elections official says that her office has misplaced more than 2,000 ballots.
The South Florida Sun-Sentinel posted video Saturday of Broward County Supervisor of Elections Brenda Snipes saying that 2,040 ballots had been "misfiled." Snipes did insist that the ballots were still in the elections building.
Snipes has already been under fire for the way her office has handled the election and recount.
Counties across the state are in the middle of a hand recount for two statewide races including the race for U.S. Senate.
State officials ordered a manual recount on Thursday after a machine recount showed that Republican Gov. Rick Scott led incumbent Democrat Bill Nelson by about 12,600 votes. More than 8 million voters cast ballots in the race.
11:50 a.m.
Officials say most of Florida's counties have finished their hand recount in the state's contentious U.S. Senate races.
State officials ordered a manual recount on Thursday after a machine recount showed that Republican Gov. Rick Scott led incumbent Democrat Bill Nelson by about 12,600 votes. More than 8 million voters cast ballots in the race.
At least 44 out of 67 counties have finished their hand recount in the Senate race. Many counties were spending Saturday doing a hand recount in another statewide race.
Counties have until noon on Sunday to report official results to the Department of State.
Several counties have posted hand recount updates on their websites. The totals for Nelson and Scott have changed slightly, but not significantly.
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Alisha Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov defended their pairs title at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships on Friday night, and now have a nervous wait to see whether her citizenship will be approved in time to compete at the Milan Cortina Olympics.
While he is a U.S. citizen, born in Wisconsin and raised in Texas, the 26-year-old Efimova was born in Finland and has competed for Germany and Russia along with her native country. Only citizens of the country they represent are eligible for the Olympics, though, and while Mitrofanov and Efimova are married and she has a green card, she has not received an American passport yet.
The Skating Club of Boston, where the couple trains, and U.S. Figure Skating have been working to get the typical three-year waiting period for citizenship expedited. But time is running out before Sunday’s deadline to announce the Olympic team.
Despite a couple of errors on their jumps, including a scary moment when Mitrofanov was nearly clipped by Efimova's skate, the pair finished with 207.71 points, easily outdistancing Ellie Kam and Danny O'Shea for their second straight national championship.
Kam and O'Shea finished with 197.12 points and Katie McBeath and Daniil Parkman were third with 187.45.
The women’s title will be decided Friday night in what amounts to a showdown between two-time defending champion Amber Glenn and reigning world champ Alysa Liu, who finished second at nationals a year ago by the slimmest of margins.
Glenn led after breaking the record for a women’s short program at the U.S. championships with 83.05 points, while Liu was second with 81.11 points. Isabeau Levito was third, Sarah Everhardt fourth and Bradie Tennell fifth.
The Americans have qualified the maximum three women’s spots on the Olympic team.
They only have two spots in pairs.
Efimova and Mitrofanov would get one, should her citizenship get approved at the last minute. Kam and O'Shea are near locks to make their first Olympic team, while McBeath and Parkman are unable to go because he likewise does not have U.S. citizenship.
That could leave U.S. Figure Skating to make a judgment call on the second pairs team it sends to the Milan Cortina Games.
Emily Chan and Spencer Howe rallied from eighth after a difficult short program to finish fourth with 186.52 points Friday night, while the up-and-coming team of Audrey Shin and Balazs Nagy were less than two points behind in fifth place.
Yet ahead of them all were Efimova and Mitrofanov, the clear-cut best of American pairs skating.
Their free skate, set to “Where Do I Begin?” from the 1970 Arthur Hiller romantic drama “Love Story," was intended to be a tribute to two-time Olympic champions Katia Gordeeva and Sergey Grinkov, who was just 28 when he died of a heart attack in 1995.
Efimova and Mitrofanov opened with a beautiful triple twist, but then a sequence went awry after their triple salchow when he fell during a double axel, and Efimova nearly wiped his forehead with her skate blade. She also struggled on their side-by-side triple toe loops later in the program, but a strong finishing sequence left no doubt that they would repeat as champions.
Kam and O'Shea, the 2024 national champions, gave it their best shot at getting back to the top of the podium.
But they likewise had just enough mistakes during their free skate, set to music from the Eurythmics, The Beatles and Tears for Fear, to keep them in second place. Kam put her hand down on their triple toe loops, she made a mistake after their triple salchow during an intended sequence of jumps, and she later fell on their throw triple lutz.
Still, the 21-year-old Kam and the 34-year-old Shea did enough to likely lock up a spot for the Winter Games.
AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
Katie McBeath and Daniil Parkman compete during the pairs free skating competition at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
Ellie Kam and Danny O'Shea compete during the pairs free skating competition at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
Ellie Kam and Danny O'Shea compete during the pairs free skating competition at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov compete during the pairs free skating competition at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
Misha Mitrofanov lifts his partner Alisa Efimova after they took first place to win the pairs free skating competition at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov compete during the pairs free skating competition at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
