couldn't bring it home for you. [ applause ] but, but i can guarantee you this. i'm not going anywhere. we're going to fight. we're going to keep fighting. we're going to keep working. we're going to keep believing and in all of that, i believe that ultimately, we will be victorious. we will be victorious. so i want you to know on behalf of our families that were so, so, so appreciative and thankful for you, and we want you to know that we're going to continue to lift our great state in prayer, we're going to lift our great nation in prayer, and we believe

at the end of the day that we, not us, but we will still have the victory. god bless you. god keep you. god bless the state of florida and this great country that we get to call home. take care, everybody. thank you. [ cheers and applause ] thank you all. god bless you. love y'all.

>> thank you, florida, for your support. about 15 minutes ago, i spoke with andrew gillum and he very graciously conceded the election. he was a very formidable opponent and i wish him well in his future endeavors. other than serving our nation in uniform, the opportunity to serve as the 46th governor of the great state of florida is the greatest professional honor of my life. thank you, the people of florida, for your faith, your support and your trust you have placed in me. not bad for a kid who started out making $6 an hour. now, throughout the campaign i knew the only thing i could fully control was how hard i

worked and while i was confident achieving a victory, i was at peace knowing that i worked as hard as i possibly could and i left everything out on the field. abraham lincoln told soldiers assembled before him at the end of the civil war that the free government for which they were fighting provided everyone with an open field and fair chance for their industry enterprise and intelligence. lincoln was born on the frontier in obscure circumstances, yet he rose to the highest office in the land. he was living proof that these ideals the soldiers were fighting for were worth the sacrifice, and i think my election as governor in the nation's third largest state is further proof that regardless of where you start out in life, if you work hard, if you do it for the right reasons, you can succeed in the united states of america.

now, when casie and i launched this effort in january, the pundit class gave us no chance and even today, the political and media class seem eager to write our obituary. but the great thing about our country is that every two years, the people have that one day in november where the elites don't call the shots, where they don't get to craft the narrative and where they don't get to set the agenda. on election day, it's the voice of the people that rules. now, as governor, i will make sure florida remains a low tax state. we'll hold people in government accountable. we'll protect taxpayer dollars and we'll ensure that floridians from all walks of life have that open field and fair chance to

realize their dreams, and for those of you in high tax states who may be contemplating investing in florida, please know that we will remain open for business. and we will save you an awful lot in taxes if you bring your investment to florida. there's a lot of people i have to thank and unfortunately, i just can't thank everyone, but i can tell you this. my most significant and valued supporter, in spite of what the media may say, is standing right next to me, my wife casie. you know, we met by chance at a driving range years ago, and she has been my best friend, she's the best wife anybody could ever have, and i very much hope and i think i will be a great governor, but i can guarantee you on day one of all 50 states,

florida will have the best first lady in the country in my wife. i would also like to thank my parents for all they did for me, especially my mother, who is a retired nurse, and we have two kids under 2, so when you're running for governor in this massive state, always going in and out, it's really a help that she's been there helping us get through this really difficult process, so i love her very much and i want to thank her. i also want to thank all the great volunteers that we had throughout the state of florida. the bottom line is i'm a vessel, i'm putting out the ideas and i'm putting out the leadership, but you guys are the ones that really made this victory happen. you knocked on doors, you made calls, you waved signs and you sent me your prayers all across the state of florida. and truth be told, one of the

reasons why i worked so hard during the campaign, because i saw you working so hard and i did not want to let you down. i also want to thank our campaign staff who worked very, very hard throughout this process, starting with our campaign chairman, suzy wilds. she's the best in the business and everyone worked so hard and were instrumental. i want to thank our wonderful lieutenant governor-elect, jeannette nunez. now, when we started the campaign and jeannette got on the ticket, she was kind of our secret weapon but i think now, her force and presence has been witnessed by the entire state, and people know that we are getting a special woman to be our lieutenant governor.

and she will be, when she takes office, the highest ranking hispanic female in the history of the state of florida. i would also like to thank governor rick scott for his leadership as governor. we have an awful lot of opportunities in florida particularly building a stronger economy, and that is in large part due to the hard work of rick scott for eight years, focusing on bringing florida's economy back. it's never been better. we haven't reached our potential. that's what i'm going to work on doing. but governor scott has done a great job for the people of the state of florida. finally, i would like to thank our president for standing by me when -- for standing by me when

it wasn't necessarily the smart thing to do. mr. president, i look forward to working with you to advance florida's priorities. i think you're going to get tired of me calling you asking you for things for florida, but i look forward to that. i think we'll have a great partnership. i'm excited for the opportunity for florida. i'm excited to be able to serve as the leader of the state. when i was in iraq, it didn't matter where our fellow service members came from, it didn't matter what they looked like. we all wore the same american flag patch on our uniform. we never thought about which of the folks back home we were fighting for. were we fighting for republicans, for just democrats, no, we stood for all americans. now, political campaigns are rough business and are often about highlighting our

differences, and unfortunately, in this day and age, they too often spiral into outright demagoguery but governing is different. governing is about getting things done on behalf of the people of florida. keeping the economy going, improving our water quality and environment, promoting public safety and expanding educational opportunities. we need to build a florida that's cleaner, safer, stronger, and that will be my guiding light as governor. so you can count on me if you're a low income family, you're relying on a step up for students scholarship for your child to have education opportunities, you can count on me to keep that going. if you're somebody who is interested in protecting the environment that floridians enjoy, you can count on me to stand for clean water, stop the toxic algae, fight red tide and restore the everglades. floridians can count on me to

keep taxes low and to use our low tax climate to drive more investment into the state of florida. we can have real significant gains in manufacturing, technology, finance. that will mean a broader economic base. it means higher paying jobs. you actually will end up raising more money for the government with low tax rates, so you can do things for environment and education and public safety. law enforcement can count on me to stand by them. i was honored to have the support from almost every law enforcement agency or group in florida and there was not a single campaign stop i didn't go where someone in uniform didn't come up to me and say sir, we're behind you, we're counting on you, so just understand, i appreciate the job you do to keep floridians safe and we'll stand by you 100%. as a veteran, floridians can count on me to stand up for our active duty military mission in

the state of florida, and for our great veterans, who have done so much to help our -- floridians can also count on me to appoint solid constitutionalists to our state supreme court and other courts. so that we can end judicial activism and restore the constitutional order. so we've got an awful lot to do. we have a lot of opportunities and i believe you have to turn the page on a political campaign, and you've got to be willing to work with floridians from all walks of life. i don't care if you were against me in the campaign. i want to work with you to advance our common priorities. if we think that way, i think -- i don't think there's going to be limits to the amount of good we can do. so it's an honor to be here tonight as the governor-elect of the state of florida. we're looking forward to getting going very, very quickly as we

juggle two kids under 2 and all that goes with that, but i promise you this. as governor, i will fight the good fight, i will finish the race, and i will keep the faith on behalf of the great state of florida and the wonderful people we have here. thank you. god bless you guys.