Early voting numbers in Florida looking good for Trump

Thousands more Republicans than Democrats have cast early ballots so far in Florida — a huge bump for the GOP from the early voting levels for then-nominee Mitt Romney in 2012.

At this point in 2012, 39,000 more Democrats than Republicans had cast votes in the Sunshine State. Today, Republicans have out-voted Democrats so far by 17,000 votes, the Tampa Bay Times reported.

That said, it's impossible to know how many of those voters crossed over to vote for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton instead of the Republican, Donald Trump, but a higher number of Republican voters already on the rolls is a good sign for the billionaire's hopes in the crucial swing state.

Adam C. Smith, the Tampa Bay Times political editor, explains the gulf this way:

We can parse the numbers in terms of whether Republicans have banked more voters certain to vote anyway or whether it's fair to compare 2012's longer early vote period to the shorter one four years ago. The bottom line, though, is that Democrats in Florida so far are performing worse than expected and Republicans better.

It's going to be close.

As Clinton has been pressing more into the swing state of Arizona, the Trump campaign has been focusing more time and resources on Florida, because it's a key piece of any scenario that has him winning the Electoral College.