More than 3.5 million Floridians have already cast ballots with six days remaining until Election Day, giving campaigns an increasingly clear picture of who has voted and who they still need to reach. The race for governor enters its final sprint toward Nov. 3.
The Electorate at a Glance
The University of Florida Election Lab reports a total of 3,531,109 ballots cast across the state so far. That figure splits into 1,938,019 in-person early votes and 1,593,090 returned mail ballots. More than 5 million Floridians ultimately voted before Election Day in the 2022 midterm, and the current 2026 total is still growing.
Knowing a voter’s party registration does not reveal how that specific person marked their ballot. Registered Republicans can vote for Democrats, registered Democrats can choose Republicans, and unaffiliated voters can break in any direction. Still, the party breakdowns give strategists concrete targets for their closing get-out-the-vote operations.
Regional Fractures Across the Tampa Bay Area
Across the nine counties in the FOX 13 viewing area, 854,921 ballots are already in. Hillsborough County leads the region with 226,598 ballots cast, where registered Democrats who have voted currently outnumber Republicans by 16,392. Pinellas County tells a tighter story with 184,597 ballots recorded, featuring a narrow 3,402 voter registration advantage for Democrats.
Republican voters hold the early lead among participants in Citrus, Hardee, Hernando, Manatee, Pasco, and Sarasota counties. Meanwhile, Polk County remains almost perfectly even. Out of 94,469 ballots cast there, 38,318 belong to registered Republicans and 38,186 to Democrats—a difference of just 132. Across all nine regional counties, total participation stands at 854,921, comprising 351,695 registered Republicans, 323,582 Democrats, and 179,644 minor-party or unaffiliated voters.
Closing Arguments on the Trail
The tightening window has intensified the messaging from the gubernatorial contenders. Republican gubernatorial candidate Byron Donalds rallied supporters in Tallahassee on Tuesday, keeping his closing mandate straightforward. “Our mission over the next seven days is really simple. Just get out and vote,” Donalds told the crowd.
Democratic gubernatorial candidate David Jolly also campaigned in Tallahassee on Tuesday, pivoting his closing pitch toward economic pressures. “The greatest concern right now is your personal economy. Can you afford your house? Where does your family get healthcare? And in a state that abandoned public education, where do you send your kids to school?” Jolly asked.
Beyond traditional divides over housing, healthcare, and public education, this cycle has also wrestled with the practical fallout of rising utility costs and the construction of AI data centers across the state. Both candidates are now making their final push before Nov. 3.
