Democrats may be gaining a rare seat in the Florida Senate.
Unoffical results show Brian Nathan holding a lead of several hundred votes in the election to replace former senator — and current lieutenant governor — Jay Collins. Nathan was narrowly leading Republican state Rep. Josie Tomkow of Polk City in Tuesday's vote.
An automatic recount is held if the vote difference is less than half a percentage point. If the machine recount shows a difference of one-quarter of 1 percent, a manual recount would be held.
Nathan is a Navy veteran and is active with a union for electrical workers. He was outspent nearly seven-to-one by Tomkow's supporters in a district where registered Republicans are in the majority.
The district includes South Tampa and much of Hillsborough County west of Interstate 275.
If the result holds, it would chip away at the Republican supermajority in Tallahassee - and send a message to the state GOP. Republicans hold a majority of seats in the district, which ranges from conservative northern Hillsborough to more Democratic Tampa.
Meanwhile, Republicans scored a win in the Polk County race to replace Tomkow in the state House. Hilary Holley defeated Democrat Edwin Perez by about 10 percentage points. The district includes much of northern Polk.
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