While there has been much talk of a potential blue wave as Democrats seek to push back against President Donald Trump, so far more GOP voters have cast ballots in Florida than Democrats.

More than 2.3 million Floridians already have voted with 10 days left to go in one of the most anticipated and consequential midterm elections in modern memory.

Voter turnout stood at 17.4 percent as of Saturday morning.

Florida has 13,278,070 registered voters, including 4,681,598 Republicans, 4,944,867 Democrats and 3,651,605 no party or minor party voters.

As of Saturday morning, 990,568 Republicans had voted, 916,259 Democrats and 409,686 no party or minor party voters.

Democratic candidate for governor Andrew Gillum pointed to those numbers Saturday during a rally in Sarasota and called on his supporters to ramp up voter turnout efforts.

"If the election were today we would lose," Gillum said.

Republicans also are urging their voters not to be complacent. President Donald Trump is coming to Southwest Florida Wednesday to try and boost GOP turnout in a reliably-red area.

A steady stream of voters have been returning absentee ballots and utilizing early voting locations in Sarasota and Manatee counties.

As of Friday afternoon, 48,246 ballots had been cast in Manatee County, a turnout of 19.7 percent so far. In Sarasota County, 80,552 ballots had been cast as of Saturday morning, for a 25.3 percent voter turnout.

Republicans have cast 5,900 more ballots than Democrats in Sarasota and 7,989 more in Manatee.

Sarasota County Supervisor of Elections Ron Turner is expecting voter turnout to top the 59 percent mark the county reached in the 2014 midterm election.

“This is definitely not a run of the mill midterm,” Turner said.

The largest midterm election turnout in Florida in the last 20 years was 55 percent in 2002.

Jeb Bush was running for reelection that year against Democrat Bill McBride. Statewide turnout hit 51 percent in the 2014 midterm, when Gov. Rick Scott was running for reelection against Democrat Charlie Crist.

Neither of those elections featured a U.S. Senate race.

This year Florida has hotly contested races for both governor and the U.S. Senate that are driving turnout, along with a slew of competitive congressional contests and down ballot races.

Another big factor in voter turnout is the national political climate.

Sarasota resident John Robinson voted early last week.

An independent, Robinson said he leans Democratic but has supported Republicans in the past, including President Ronald Reagan during his reelection bid.

“I found Reagan grew in the job and became very much a statesman,” said Robinson, 69, who retired as a vice president with Raytheon and now works as a flight instructor. “I don’t see that with the current president.”

Robinson said he is “embarrassed Trump is our president” and voted the Democratic Party line.

Sarasota Democrat Ken Laws also said that Trump was on his mind when he voted last week.

“We need a check on Donald Trump,” said Laws, 59, who is disabled and works part time as an Uber driver. “He thinks he’s God.”

Sarasota Republican Gretchen Rimmer said she’s a big fan of Scott, who is trying to unseat Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson.

“I think Rick Scott is awesome,” said Rimmer, a 59-year-old office manager. “He’s been a fabulous governor.”

Asked about Trump, Rimmer declined to comment.

One reason the stakes are so high for this midterm is that some Democrats have been talking about trying to impeach Trump. Sarasota Republican Beth Williams said she wants to protect Trump and his recent U.S. Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh.

“If liberals get in they’ll try to impeach (Trump) and impeach Kavanaugh,” Williams said.

Trump “came in like gangbusters to do so much,” Williams said. She also believes that “liberalism has gone socialist” and is eager to stop what she sees as a socialist agenda.

“I know people need help,” Williams said. “We’re a very giving nation. But one day there’s going to be no money.”