As the night progressed on Nov. 6, the polls only tightened and the stakes only continued to rise. However, despite the consistent neck-in-neck race following the primary election in August, Republican gubernatorial candidate Ron DeSantis eventually overtook Democrat Andrew Gillum, effectively replacing Rick Scott and keeping the Sunshine State swathed in red.

Gillum conceded the race to DeSantis around 10:58 p.m. with his wife and Chris King standing by him on stage.

“Even though I won’t be the next governor of Florida, I still plan to be on the front lines standing next to every single one of you,” he assured the voters who had attended his watch party. “We didn’t shrink from the challenges, we didn’t shrink to the power. “We stood up to the power.”

DeSantis was formerly the U.S. Representative for Florida’s District 6, and he only continued to gain traction after receiving an officials endorsement from President Donald Trump. A graduate of both Yale University and Harvard, the Republican candidate also served with U.S. Navy and worked as a federal prosecutor.

Also boasting his blue-collar roots, DeSantis barreled his way to a “win” with a platform that featured support for environmental protection, new educational spending plans, tax increases and acceleration for small Florida businesses, plans to stop illegal immigration, and more.

DeSantis named Miami Representative Jeannette Núñez as his running mate, meaning she will now serve as the Lieutenant Governor of Florida.

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