Florida Republicans celebrated their victories as the state's Democrats licked their wounds on Wednesday, after a bigger-than-expected turnout from Latinos in Miami helped US President Donald Trump win the sunshine state.
Mr Trump cruised to victory in Florida with some 375,000 more votes than his Democratic challenger Joe Biden, in a high-turnout election that also saw Florida Republicans flip two congressional seats and make gains in the state legislatures.
The national race remained too close to call on Wednesday. But Florida was widely viewed as a must-win battleground state for Mr Trump and its 29 electoral college votes were widely seen as necessary for the president to keep his job.
Senator Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican, celebrated a "Dem wipeout in Miami-Dade #Florida" that saw "Trump cut the Democrat margin of victory by over half from 2016," when he beat Hillary Clinton there by some 113,000 votes.
Miami Republican organisers and analysts told The National that Mr Trump benefited from deep ties to Cuban Americans, while his message of economic strength and resisting socialism resonated with other Latinos.
Julio Martinez, 77, a Cuban-American Vietnam War veteran who helps run a pro-Trump club for ex-servicemen and who mobilized Republican voters around Hialeah, a Cuban-American suburb of Miami, said Hispanics were energised ahead of polling day.
"They wanted to let the world know that we came from countries that were taken over by communism, and they didn't want that to happen in the only country they could live in," said Mr Martinez, who left Cuba with his family in the 1950s.
"They couldn't go back to their countries unless President Trump got elected. And he had promised Nicaraguans, Venezuelans and Cubans that he was going to try to fix what was going on with the communist parties in those countries."
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Loretta Oakes of Las Vegas reacts during a Republican watch party at the South Point Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. EPA -
A supporter of US President Donald Trump taunts Biden Supporters in Black Lives Matter Plaza near the White House in Washington, DC. EPA -
A supporter shows his Donald Trump t-shirt at a Republican watch party at Huron Vally Guns in New Hudson, Michigan. AFP -
Two-year-old Noah Davenport of Granby, Colorado, waits for his mother to cast her ballot at the Granby Town Hall. AFP -
A person wearing a mask resembling U.S. President Donald Trump hands out flyers at Black Lives Matter Plaza during the 2020 Presidential election in Washington, D.C. Bloomberg -
A note left behind on the podium by U.S. President Donald Trump reads "Won Texas" after the president reacted to early results from the 2020. Reuters -
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden visits The Warehouse for teens by teens in Wilmington, Delaware. AFP -
Election judges verify and count ballots at the Denver Elections Division building in Denver, Colorado. AFP -
A voter is assisted by a polling station worker at a polling location inside Emerick Elementary School in Purcellville, Virginia. EPA -
A woman casts her ballot in the 2020 general election inside the Basset Place Mall in El Paso, Texas. AFP -
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Voters cast their ballots at the Indian Creek Fire Station 4 in Miami, Florida. AFP -
US President Donald Trump visits his campaign headquarters in Arlington, Virginia. AFP -
Tom Tillotson drops voters ballots into the ballot box at the Hale House at the historic Balsams Resort during midnight voting as part of the first ballots cast in the United States Presidential Election in Dixville Notch, New Hampshire. AFP -
Supporters of the Democratic party hold signs outside the Miami-Dade County Election Department in Miami, Florida. AFP -
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden speaks to supporters in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. AFP -
A poll worker is silhouetted from a stained glass window as voters fill out their ballots in a polling station at the San Francisco Columbarium & Funeral Home in San Francisco, California. AFP -
Karrihanna Stone, age 5, waits while her mother, Cashonda Davis casts her vote at a polling location at the Zelma Watson George Community Center in Cleveland Ohio. EPA -
Poll workers disinfect each other other after a voter with coronavirus disease dropped off her ballot curbside to prevent the spread of the virus in St. Louis, Missouri, US. Reuters
At campaign rallies in Florida, Mr Trump warned voters that President Biden would be soft on Latin American leftist autocrats like Nicholas Maduro and Daniel Ortega, the presidents of Venezuela and Nicaragua.
Mr Martinez drove a truck around Hialeah, bearing Spanish-language slogans like "no al socialismo" that resonated with voters who feared the growing clout of Bernie Sanders, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and other leftists in the Democratic party.
"They were worried about [Mr Biden's running mate] Kamala Harris. And so am I. I don't think the woman is very truthful. I think she is a left-winger. People were scared that Biden would go away very quickly and Kamala Harris would take over," said Mr Martinez.
Florida’s southern Miami-Dade county saw one of the biggest swings in Tuesday’s election. Florida Democrats know they need a good showing in Miami-Dade to offset the advantages Republicans have in the state’s conservative central and northern counties.
As of Wednesday morning, Mr Biden had only a 7.3 percentage point lead over Mr Trump in Miami-Dade. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton beat Mr Trump by some 30 points in the oceanfront county in 2016.
Eduardo Gamarra, a professor of political science at Florida International University, said Republicans had worked hard to woo Latino voters by stoking fears of Democrats taking the US in a leftist direction.
"The message may have been a lie, but the socialism accusation was absolutely effective, and the Republicans have been using it since 2017 at least," Mr Gamarra told The National.
Meanwhile, Democrats were too focused on bashing Mr Trump's hardline immigration and wall-building policies, said Mr Gamarra. Miami's Latino voters already have US citizenship, are relatively educated, wealthy and care more about the economy and healthcare.
"The Democrats have to start early, and they're already late because the Republicans have never stopped campaigning here," said Mr Gamarra. "They don't take anybody for granted. They've developed a road game which is unparalleled."
