Democratic gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum conceded the election to Republican Ron DeSantis in a Facebook post Saturday.
In a video shot in a park with his wife, R.Jai, Gillium thanked "everybody who helped us along this journey" to "not only win an election ... but to build and strengthen a movement for everyday people again here in Florida."
He said he and his wife wanted "to congratulate Mr. DeSantis on becoming the next governor of the great state of Florida."
He called the campaign "the journey of our lives" and thanked supporters.
He vowed to continue to fight for the issues he supports.
"Despite the outcome of this election, R.J. and I are committing ourselves alongside each and every one of you. More than 4 million of you decided you wanted a different direction for the state of Florida. We want you to know that we see you, that we hear you, and that your voices will continue to power us, as we still stand on the front lines alongside you to make this a state that works for all of us."
Gillum had conceded on election night, but he retracted it after the closeness of the election triggered a state-mandated recount.
After a machine recount, DeSantis had 4,075,879 votes to Gillum's 4,042,195, a margin of 33,684. The difference was enough to trigger the machine recount, but not enough for a hand recount.
Gillum, who is Tallahassee's mayor, isn't saying what he plans to do next.
"Stay tuned," he said in his brief remarks. Nonetheless, Gillum says he will remain politically active, adding "the fight for Florida continues."
Gillum's announcement came hours after President Donald Trump said on Twitter that Gillum will be a "strong Democrat warrior" and a "force to reckon with."
DeSantis ' campaign says it has no immediate response to Gillum's concession but referred back to a statement Thursday in which DeSantis declared the contest "over."
The earlier statement said the machine recount from the governor's race was "clear and unambiguous" just as it was on Election Night and that "with the campaign now over," DeSantis would be focusing to govern.
In that statement, DeSantis also said he was humbled by the support he received and called it a "great honor the people of Florida have shown me as I prepare to serve as your next governor."
Two other statewide elections, the U.S. Senate race between incumbent Bill Nelson and Gov. Rick Scott and the Agriculture Commission race between Democrat Nikki Fried and Republican Matt Caldwell, are undergoing hand recounts because the margin between the candidates was less than 0.25 percent.
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.
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