March 15, 2016 2020 → 1,079,870 638,661 0 0 | 99 0 45.7% 27.0% 404,891 159,976 | |
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The 2016 Florida Republican 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, but suspended his campaign after the state was called for Trump.
Analysis
Donald Trump managed a lopsided 17-point victory in Florida, a state where the New York businessman has real estate and several significant investments. 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 the Sunshine State.
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 48-24, in Orlando 49-27, in the Tampa Bay area 46-23, and in the Gulf Coast and Mid-Florida 48-21.
Rubio, for his part, won in Miami 42-39, and while Trump won the white vote 51-22, Rubio won the Hispanic/Latino vote 52-26, which was 16% of the electorate. Rubio won Cubans 63-17, other Hispanics 40-38, and non-whites overall 45-27.
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 [...]"