Rick Scott defeats Bill Nelson for Florida Senate seat after tense recount

Wilfredo Lee, File via AP

Florida Gov. Rick Scott, speaks to Cuban-American supporters at a campaign stop, in Hialeah, Fla

• Florida Gov. Rick Scott defeated Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson Sunday in a contentious race for the state's Senate seat.
• Scott led Nelson by more than 10,000 votes Sunday after the recount's noon deadline, according to the Associated Press.
• Over the course of the campaign, Scott baselessly claimed rampant voter fraud and reportedly spent more than $60 million to defeat Nelson, who served three terms after first being elected to the US Senate in 2000.

Florida Gov. Rick Scott defeated Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson Sunday in a contentious race for a Senate seat.

The Associated Press reported after the recount that Scott led the three-term incumbent Nelson by more than 10,000 votes.

The victory comes over a week after Election Day, when Scott was expected to defeat Nelson but only led by 0.15 percentage points, triggering a hand recount.

In the recount, election officials and volunteers had to examine ballots from which tabulation machines couldn't determine which candidate got the vote.

Read more: 3 reasons Florida's elections are a perennial chaotic nightmare

Scott's win is the second hard-fought Republican victory in the state within a day after Democrat Andrew Gillum conceded in the race for Florida governor to Republican Ron DeSantis on Saturday night.

The Senate race drew national attention as Scott made headlines throughout the campaign with repeated claims that Nelson was trying to garner votes from fraudulent ballots and those cast by noncitizens.

"He is trying to commit fraud to win this election," Scott told Fox News without offering further evidence. "Bill Nelson's a sore loser. He's been in politics way too long."

No state department, including the election division Scott heads, has found any no evidence of voter fraud. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement said it has not launched any investigation into election fraud. And a judge slapped down Republicans' fraud claims, telling politicians to "ramp down the rhetoric".

With Scott's seat secured, Republicans have an even more comfortable majority of the US Senate.