ORLANDO, Fla. — Marco Rubio has defeated Val Deming in the U.S. Senate race in Florida, becoming a victor in one of the most expensive senate races in the country, according to early results.

>>> STREAM CHANNEL 9 EYEWITNESS NEWS LIVE <<<

Rubio is ahead of Demings with 56% of the votes, early results show.

Despite raised $30 million less, Rubio led early polls, hoping to extend his time in office.

ELECTION LIVE UPDATES: DeSantis, Rubio and Moody all win reelection

Demings, a former Orlando police chief, spent more money, resulting in the third most expensive U.S. Senate race in the country behind Georgia and Pennsylvania.

Demings is well-known in Central Florida, but her challenge was to create name recognition in other parts of the state where Rubio has been representing constituents for years.

READ: Florida governor’s race: Early polls indicate GOP lead in matchup between DeSantis, Crist

Demings raised more than $72 million as of the most recent campaign finance report that ended Oct. 19. That’s $26 million more than Rubio.

She went into the final few weeks of the election cycle with $4.9 million on hand compared to Rubio’s $4.1 million.

READ: DeSantis projected winner against Crist in Florida governor race

See Congresswoman Demings concession speech below:

Congresswoman Val Demings concedes to Sen. Marco Rubio (WFTV)

IN-DEPTH: A look at the expensive U.S. Senate race A look at the expensive U.S. Senate race

Click here to download the free WFTV news and weather apps, click here to download the WFTV Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.