2016 Florida Republican presidential primary

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2016 Florida Republican presidential primary
Flag of Florida.svg
  2012 March 15, 2016 2020  
  WY
IL  

99 pledged delegates to the Republican National Convention
  Donald Trump by Gage Skidmore 10 (cropped).jpg Marco Rubio by Gage Skidmore 8 (cropped).jpg
Candidate Donald Trump Marco Rubio
Home state New York Florida
Delegate count990
Popular vote1,079,870638,661
Percentage45.72%27.04%

  Ted Cruz by Gage Skidmore 10 (cropped).jpg John Kasich (24618295175) (cropped).jpg
Candidate Ted Cruz John Kasich
Home state Texas Ohio
Delegate count00
Popular vote404,891159,976
Percentage17.14%6.77%

2016 Republican Presidential Primary in Florida by county.svg
2016 Republican Presidential Primary election in Florida by Congressional District.svg
Trump:     <30%     30-40%     40-50%     50-60%     60-70%
Rubio:     40-50%     50-60%     60-70%

The 2016 Florida Republican presidential primary was held on March 15, 2016, with 99 delegates being allocated on a winner-take-all basis. Businessman Donald Trump scored a decisive victory in the state, defeating Senator Marco Rubio by nearly 20 points. Rubio had previously vowed to continue his campaign regardless of the results in Florida, [1] but suspended his campaign after the state was called for Trump. [2]

Contents

Results

Florida Republican primary, March 15, 2016
CandidateVotesPercentageActual delegate count
BoundUnboundTotal
Donald Trump 1,079,87045.72%99099
Marco Rubio 638,66127.04%000
Ted Cruz 404,89117.14%000
John Kasich 159,9766.77%000
Jeb Bush (withdrawn)43,5111.84%000
Ben Carson (withdrawn)21,2070.90%000
Rand Paul (withdrawn)4,4500.19%000
Mike Huckabee (withdrawn)2,6240.11%000
Chris Christie (withdrawn)2,4930.11%000
Carly Fiorina (withdrawn)1,8990.08%000
Rick Santorum (withdrawn)1,2110.05%000
Lindsey Graham (withdrawn)6930.03%000
Jim Gilmore (withdrawn)3190.01%000
Unprojected delegates:000
Total:2,361,805100.00%99099
Source: The Green Papers

Analysis

Donald Trump won a landslide victory in Florida by a margin of 18.7 percentage points against 3 other candidates on the ballot, and carried every county besides Miami-Dade (won by Marco Rubio). Donald Trump had several significant investments in the state through his real estate company. According to the New York Times, Mr. Trump "was able to appeal to voters with his message of economic populism and his hard line on immigration" in Florida. [3]

According to exit polls, Trump swept all age groups, income levels, and educational attainment levels. His particular area of strength was with whites without a college degree, whom he won 54–22 over Marco Rubio. Trump also won born-again and Evangelical Christians 46–24, and white born-again Evangelical Christians 49–19. He also carried Protestants 45-24 and Catholics 50–33.

In terms of voters' primary concerns, Trump won over all groups, performing particularly well among those who worried about terrorism (he won 60–16) and those who worried most about the economy (he won 43–30). He won a particularly large victory among those whose family financial situation was "falling behind", among those who called themselves "dissatisfied" or "angry" about the federal government, and among those who said they felt betrayed by Republican politicians. He won among voters who said the U.S. support for Israel is "Not Strong Enough" 48–26. An overwhelming majority of voters said they support Trump's proposed Muslim ban.

Trump swept most regions of the state, winning in the Panhandle with 48 percent (Rubio, 25%; Cruz, 21%; Kasich, 7%), in Orlando with 49 percent (Rubio, 27%; Cruz, 17%; Kasich, 5%; Carson, 1%), in the Tampa Bay area with 46 percent (Rubio, 23%; Cruz, 18%; Kasich, 10%), and in the Gulf Coast and Mid-Florida with 48 percent (Rubio, 21%; Cruz, 18%; Kasich, 7%; Carson, 1%). [4]

Rubio, for his part, won in Miami 42-39 as compared to Trump (Cruz, 10%; Kasich, 6%; Carson, 1%). While Trump won the state's white vote 51-22 as compared to Rubio, Rubio won Florida's Hispanic/Latino vote 52-26 as compared to Trump, which was 15% of the state's electorate. Compared to Trump, Rubio won Cubans 63–17, other Hispanics 40–38, and non-whites 45–27. [4]

After losing his home state of Florida, Rubio withdrew from the race. As The New York Times described in its analysis of the primary results, Rubio "ran for president offering his youthful optimism and Cuban-American heritage as the embodiment of a new and more diverse generation of Republican leadership, but ultimately failed to galvanize voters in a much darker mood [...]" [3]

Trump would later go on to win the nomination and then become the President of the United States. During his term, his official home state was also changed to Florida. [5]

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References

  1. Killough, Ashley (March 15, 2016). "Marco Rubio: I'm going to Utah 'irrespective' of Florida results". CNN.
  2. Kopan, Tal (March 16, 2016). "Marco Rubio drops out of presidential race after Florida loss". CNN.
  3. 1 2 Rappeport, Alan; Haberman, Maggie (March 15, 2016). "Florida, Ohio and Other Primaries on March 15: Analysis". The New York Times - The New York Times Politics and Washington. Retrieved October 22, 2016.
  4. 1 2 "2016 Election Center". CNN. Retrieved July 11, 2018.
  5. "Trump, Now a Florida Man, Makes Home State Center of Campaign". Bloomberg.com. November 25, 2019.