It’s about two weeks until voters choose the next governor of Florida.
Absentee votes started being counted last week. And today is the start of early voting in South Florida. Other counties will follow soon.
It’s why Gov. Rick Scott and a slate of Republican candidates met at a Miami park next to a polling place Monday – to cast their early votes and encourage others to do the same.
The race between Republican Scott and Democrat Charlie Crist is tight. Scott says the first votes cast could be the difference in the end.
“In 2012, when Mitt Romney lost, he lost because Republicans didn’t early vote," Scott said. "We can win this election. In Miami-Dade only 23 percent of Republicans voted early. Anybody that has the opportunity to vote today – right over here – we need to walk right over there and vote now.”
During the last governor’s race in 2010, 2.4 million Floridians voted early or absentee.
Republicans traditionally have an edge in absentee ballots. But Democrats usually have the better turnout for in-person early voting.
Republicans had the advantage Monday in Miami – Scott and Sen. Marco Rubio led about a dozen state, county and local leaders to an adjacent polling place to cast their votes.
The GOP also took aim at Crist's inability to speak Spanish.
Lt. Gov. Carlos Lopez-Cantera says Scott's efforts to learn and speak Spanish are a sign he’ll be more interested in the issues of Florida’s Hispanic families.
“There are people in this state who prefer to hear information in Spanish," he says. "And I’m proud of the governor for just putting forth the effort to recognize that and be able to communicate in Spanish... The question you should be asking is why hasn’t Charlie Crist learned to speak Spanish?”
Scott’s Spanish is improving but can be charitably described as muy Gringo at best. He’s made statements in Spanish at several press conferences and both gubernatorial debates.
After last week’s debate, Democratic Lt. Gov. nominee Annette Taddeo Goldstein said on Twitter “If you don’t speak Spanish, don’t speak Spanish!”
She later apologized and acknowledged learning a new language is difficult. But Taddeo Goldstein also says she wished Scott “put the same effort into caring about the issues that affect our community.”
