Rick Scott, Alex Sink Remain In Virtual Dead Heat

NAPLES (CBS4) - It had been predicted, but no one could have predicted how close Florida's governor's race would be.

Early Wednesday morning, it was still unclear if Republican Rick Scott or Democrat Alex Sink had won the governor's seat. Sink trailed Scott by a little more than 70,000 votes, according to CBS News.

Sink referred to the situation as a "nail-biter."

At a party in Tampa early Wednesday morning, Sink said she would wait for every vote to be counted.

The tone was much different earlier in the day when gubernatorial candidate Rick Scott has cast his vote in his race to become the next Governor of Florida. He voted Tuesday morning at Saint Ann's Catholic Church in Naples.

He was cheered on by a crowd of supporters holding up signs. Before entering the polling station, Scott, a Naples resident, shook hands and hugged each of his supporters.

When he exited the polling place, Scott predicted, "We're going to have a big win tonight."

Scott was making a final push for votes Tuesday, flying from Naples to Jacksonville to Tampa to Fort Lauderdale where he's holding his post-election party at the Hilton Fort Lauderdale Marina.

He's locked in a tight race with Democrat Alex Sink who cast her ballot Tuesday morning just outside of Tampa.  During her final push for votes, Sink stumped for votes in the Tampa area and tried to get the message across to voters about how important it is to cast their ballots.

"What's at stake is, if they don't go out, is that they're going to end up with a leader that has a very questionable background, very questionable business plan and hasn't really lived in the state of Florida very long and gotten to know, and be familiar with, the needs of the people of Florida," said Sink.

The Sink camp said they have the momentum behind them, fueled in part by Republican converts.

"We do know that I have gained a lot of cross party support, many republicans are reporting that they have crossed party lines to vote for me because they believe I am the best leader for Florida," said Sink.

Polls had predicted a dead heat. The latest Quinnipiac University poll, had Sink garnering 44 percent of the vote to Scott's 43 percent; the survey has a 3.2 percent margin of error.

Sink, a former bank executive who could become Florida's first female governor, urged supporters to do all they can.

"If you've already voted, I'm going to ask you to go out and find 10 or 20 friends to vote tomorrow. Will you do it," Sink told a cheering crowd on Monday.

Scott, a political outsider who has poured more than $75 million of his money into the campaign, has become a tea party favorite. Throughout the campaign Scott has been dogged by his past leadership of a hospital network that paid a record $1.7 billion fine to settle federal charges of Medicaid and Medicare fraud. He left the company before the settlement and was never charged with a crime.

Scott has sought to link Sink to employees at a subsidiary of her former bank who allegedly drew seniors into risky investments. NationsBank paid a $6.7 million fine for the practice. Sink, who at the time was president of the bank's Florida operations, said she had nothing to do with the case.

Sink is holding her post-election party at the Tampa Marriott Waterside Hotel & Marina.