“It’s done. But it was done before today. This was a total Hail Mary,” said a top Democrat involved in Nelson’s campaign who didn’t want to speak publicly before the Democratic Party icon conceded defeat to one of the party’s most-hated rivals.

The night before, Walker had rejected yet another Nelson lawsuit concerning standards for divining voter intent in manual recounts, and he refused to extend the deadlines of the recount.

Without favorable court rulings to expand the available ballot pool, Nelson has no way to make up his 12,603-vote deficit with Scott. Nelson can still appeal, but Democrats said that’s highly unlikely, considering Walker has historically appeared more sympathetic to their arguments compared to appeals courts.