What to Know
- Clinton, Trump battling for Florida's 29 electoral votes
Donald Trump was the apparent winner over Hillary Clinton in the key battleground state of Florida Tuesday, NBC News reported.
Democratic nominee Clinton, with over two decades in Washington D.C. in various capacities (including U.S. Senator and Secretary of State), has been spending the last four months locked in a battle with billionaire businessman and Republican nominee Trump.
As in past elections, Florida could prove to be the most important state in the election. Both candidates and their campaigns have spent plenty of time and money over the last weeks in the Sunshine State aiming for the 29 electoral votes. President Barack Obama won the state during both his campaigns in 2008 and 2012.
Campaign surrogates have also been stumping for their candidates in the weeks leading up to election day including Trump's VP nominee, Gov. Mike Pence. Clinton has had her party's two biggest names - President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden - to campaign for her in South Florida, along with VP nominee Tim Kaine.
Recent polls had shown a close race in Florida. Numbers released Monday showed nearly 6.42 million voters in the Sunshine State voted early or by mail.
While the nation is assured that the next Commander-in-Chief will come from the state of New York, their home state is about the only thing the two opponents have in common – aside from not being able to shake controversies.
Trump came out of a field with 16 other candidates for the GOP’s nomination. Throughout his run, Trump has not been shy with sharing his opinions and making controversial statements toward everyone from immigrants (including his continued promise to build a wall between the United States and Mexico) to the Muslim community across the world. Clinton and her supporters have repeatedly pounced on these comments as a sign Trump is not “fit” to be elected.
The former host of NBC’s "The Apprentice" also had to defend himself from the release of a 2005 tape showing him making lewd comments with former Access Hollywood host Billy Bush about touching and kissing woman without their permission.
(“Access Hollywood” is owned and distributed by NBCUniversal, the parent company of NBC News, MSNBC and this station.)
Clinton, who spent most of the primary season unable to shake a strong challenge from Vermont Senator and progressive favorite Bernie Sanders, has been dealing with her own issues. She has continued to be dogged by Trump supporters for her role as Secretary of State in the Benghazi scandal from 2012, where four Americans were killed in an attack on the U.S. embassy in Libya.
Local
She has also been dealing with the continuing issue of her use of a private email server while in the State Department. While the FBI initially ruled that Clinton should not face charges for the potential release of classified information, Director James Coney announced less than two weeks ago that the agency would look into the issue again after an investigation involving emails between former U.S. Congressman Anthony Weiner and his estranged wife Huma Abedin (a high ranking member of Clinton’s campaign) potentially could have contained classified information from the candidate.
While most Americans can’t wait for this election to be over, November 8th may not be the end of it. During the third debate between the candidates, Trump would not guarantee that he would concede the election – part of a theme from both the candidate and his supporters that the election is “rigged”.
A Clinton win would make her the second member of her immediate family to hold the office – joining husband Bill, who ran the country from 1993 until 2001 – while Trump would become just the fifth person to never hold a political office before becoming President with a win (with the previous four all being former military generals, including George Washington and Dwight Eisenhower).
