Months of bitter campaigning led to this night. Polls close at 7 p.m. Eastern time in much of Florida, and parts of the Panhandle in the central time zone end an hour later. Journalists from the Tampa Bay Times were stationed throughout the regionby speaking with voters who say they were pushed to vote because of their feelings about the economy, abortion and immigration. A few I went through the confusion and traveled to new locations due to hurricane damage to their usual voting sites.

Once a purple battleground famous for rocking the nation, Florida is not considered a point of support in the race for the White House between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris. But it will nevertheless be closely monitored, because it is is home to more than 13.8 million potential voters who have the opportunity to change the laws on abortion and recreational marijuana. Residents will further decide whether to send Republican Sen. Rick Scott back to Washington D.C. and determine the outcome of a key House of Representatives race between Representative Anna Paulina LunaRepublican, and her Democratic challenger, Whitney Foxin Pinellas County.

Read the live updates below to follow what’s happening in Florida up to the minute. Consult our voter guide to find out more about the candidates and the issues at stake in the election. And follow our live results page to track the results of each key race for Tampa Bay.

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6:30 p.m. A first overview of participation before the polling stations close

Nearly 11 million Floridians had come to vote by 6:30 p.m., representing about 78% of registered voters in the state. That tally will continue to rise as in-person ballots are counted, but it is already up from the last presidential election in 2020. Early indications show an advantage for Florida Republicans. Statewide, nearly 4.7 million Republicans voted, compared to 3.4 million Democrats. In addition, 2.8 million unaffiliated or unaffiliated voters cast ballots.

These trends also played out in Tampa Bay, where early Republican turnout exceeds that of Democrats on both sides of the Bay.

In Hillsborough, more than 250,000 Republicans, 235,000 Democrats and 134,000 other affiliates voted. In Pinellas, the breakdown was about 207,000 Republicans, 172,000 Democrats and 98,000 other affiliates. —Ian Hodgson

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