Florida Gov. Scott holds on against challenger Crist

Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) has won a tight race against his predecessor, Charlie Crist (D).

The Associated Press called the race for Scott just before 10:30 pm, in what had been one of the closer races early Tuesday.

{mosads}Scott had been a major target for Democrats during the 2014 midterm cycle, and he faced a familiar opponent in Crist.

Crist previously served as the state’s governor as a Republican, from 2007 to 2011. He left office to mount a bid to join the U.S. Senate, ultimately becoming an Independent in a failed bid to defeat Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.). He then went on to register as a Democrat, endorse President Obama and mount a bid to retake the governorship from Scott.

The two were neck and neck throughout the campaign, and they traded the lead early Tuesday evening as votes were counted. Scott eventually built a small lead as the night progressed. With 99 percent of precincts reporting, Scott was ahead 48.4 percent to Crist’s 46.9 percent.