FLORIDA
      Nov. 6, 2012 U.S. Senate

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+Bill Nelson (D) i
 4,523,451
 55.23%
Connie Mack (R)
 3,458,267
 42.23%
Bill Gaylor (NPA)
 126,079
 1.54%
Chris Borgia (NPA)
 82,089
 1.00%
write-ins (5)
 60

8,189,946
Voter Registration 11,934,446.  Turnout 8,538,264.
Plurality 1,065,184 votes (13.00 percentage points).
  FL Department of State



Notes: Sen. Bill Nelson (D) won a third term, defeating U.S. Rep. Connie Mack IV (R) and two other candidates.

Nelson, first elected to the Senate in 2000, had an extensive career in public service, having first been elected to the Florida House in 1972.  He easily won the Aug. 14 Democratic primary, defeating Glenn A. Burkett, owner of a health and wellness center in Naples, by a 78.8% to 21.1% margin.

Mack was first elected to Congress in 2004 representing CD-14 (Fort Myers).  He previously served two terms in the Florida House representing House District 91 (Fort Lauderdale).  He is the son of former U.S. Sen. Connie Mack III, who served from 1989 to 2001, and the great grandson of Connie Mack, the longest-serving, winningest and losingest manager in Major League Baseball history.  Mack was a late entrant into the Senate race, announcing his candidacy on Nov. 28, 2011 on Sean Hannity's TV show.  He won the Aug. 14 primary garnering 58.7% of the vote against former U.S. Rep. Dave Weldon (20.1%), professor Mike McCalister (13.9%) and activist Marielena Stuart (7.3%).

Nelson and Mack engaged in just one televised debate, on Oct. 17, produced by Leadership Florida® and the Florida Press Association at Nova Southeastern University in Davie (>) .

Open Secrets reported this was the ninth most expensive Senate race of 2012, with spending by campaigns and outside groups totalling $52.8 million, $29.4 million by campaigns and $23.4 million by outside groups (>).  The Nelson campaign spent $17.1 million compared to $7.5 million for the Mack campaign (>).  Five groups invested more than $1 million in the race: DSCC ($5.0m) and, on the Republican side, American Crossroads ($4.0m), U.S. Chamber of Commerce ($3.8m), Freedom PAC ($3.2m) and Freedomworks for America ($2.9m).

While Nelson's winning margin was more than one million votes (13.00 percentage points), the race at the top of the ticket was much closer; Obama-Biden eked out a win over Romney-Ryan by just 74,309 votes (0.88 percentage points).


Campaign Managers:
Bill Nelson:  Pete Mitchell
(July 2012)  Longtime aide to Sen. Nelson; chief of staff from 2003, and state director from 2001-03.  Chief of staff to Nelson when he was Florida Treasurer, 1994-99.  Worked in the Florida House, 1988-94.  Master's degree in public administration from Florida State University, 1981; B.A. in political science from University of Florida, 1976.

Connie Mack:  Jeffrey M. Cohen
Managing director/executive vice president at Burson-Marsteller, 2009-11.  Chief of staff to Connie Mack, 2005-09; campaign manager on Connie Mack for Congress, 2003-09.  Director of marketing at Akustica, 2002-03.  Vice president at Ketchum Public Relations, 2000-01.  Director of strategic communications for Infotech Strategies, 1998-2000.  Public relations manager for the Personal Communications Infrastructure Association, 1997-98.  Executive director for Florida on Dole for President, 1996.  Press secretary to Connie Mack, 1991-97.




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