Registered Republicans pushed their statewide Florida early voting lead past 50,000 ballots on Oct 28, Day 10 of in person voting, after outpacing Democrats 46.8% to 31.8% in the afternoon tally. In person returns for the day reached 61,936 Republican ballots, 42,157 Democratic ballots and 24,875 from independents, with a subsequent update showing Republicans at 46.4% and Democrats at 32.2% for a 14.2 percentage point daily advantage.

The Day 10 gains built on Day 9 returns on Oct 27, when Republicans netted roughly 22,000 ballots across combined mail and in person voting to move ahead 1,410,066 to 1,374,521, a 1.1 percentage point lead of about 35,500 votes out of 3.5 million total ballots cast. In cumulative in person early voting through Day 9, Republicans held an 8.2 point lead with 851,294 votes to Democrats’ 693,549 and 389,438 from unaffiliated and other voters, trailing the 24.5 point in person margin the GOP held at the same point in 2024.

Despite trailing in raw ballots, registered Democrats held a 33% to 24.7% turnout rate advantage over Republicans through Day 9, reversing the 27% to 25.2% turnout rate lead Republicans held at the same stage in 2022 and a 4 point GOP turnout rate lead that produced a 12 point ballot advantage at that point in 2024. Voters age 65 and older accounted for 56.9% of early and absentee ballots through Oct 27, while women made up 54% of the electorate.