Democrat Nikki Fried Tops Republican Matt Caldwell By Narrow Margin Florida Agriculture Commissioner
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TALLAHASSEE (CBSMiami) -- After trailing on election night, Democrat Nikki Fried held a slight lead Friday morning in her race with Republican Matt Caldwell to become state agriculture commissioner.
With votes continuing to be counted, Fried held a 2,915-vote lead as of 7 a.m. Friday, according to the state Division of Elections website.
With 8,046,381 votes tallied in the Cabinet race, Fried had 4,024,648, or 50.02 percent, while Caldwell had 4,021,733, or 49.98 percent.
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Counties are required to submit unofficial results to the state by noon Saturday, and the narrow margin in the agriculture-commissioner race appears certain to trigger an automatic recount.
Caldwell had previously declared victory on Election Night.
If the race reaches a difference of 0.5 percent, it automatically triggers a statewide machine recount.
If it goes within .25 percent, it triggers a manual recount.
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