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 Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...

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.

Results

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 ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

, Mr. Trump "was able to appeal to voters with his message of economic populism and his hard line on

immigration Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, a ...

" 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 White is a racialized classification of people and a skin color specifier, generally used for people of European origin, although the definition can vary depending on context, nationality, and point of view. Description of populations as ...

without a

college degree An academic degree is a qualification awarded to students upon successful completion of a course of study in higher education, usually at a college or university. These institutions commonly offer degrees at various levels, usually including unde ...

, whom he won 54–22 over Marco Rubio. Trump also won

born-again Born again, or to experience the new birth, is a phrase, particularly in evangelicalism, that refers to a "spiritual rebirth", or a regeneration of the human spirit. In contrast to one's physical birth, being "born again" is distinctly and sep ...

and

Evangelical Christians Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being " born again", in which an individual exper ...

46–24, and

white White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White o ...

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 Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...

(he won 60–16) and those who worried most about the

economy An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services. In general, it is defined as a social domain that emphasize the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with the ...

(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 Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

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 Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures re ...

with 49 percent (Rubio, 27%; Cruz, 17%; Kasich, 5%; Carson, 1%), in the

Tampa Bay Tampa Bay is a large natural harbor and shallow estuary connected to the Gulf of Mexico on the west-central coast of Florida, comprising Hillsborough Bay, McKay Bay, Old Tampa Bay, Middle Tampa Bay, and Lower Tampa Bay. The largest freshwater ...

area with 46 percent (Rubio, 23%; Cruz, 18%; Kasich, 10%), and in the

Gulf Coast The Gulf Coast of the United States, also known as the Gulf South, is the coast, coastline along the Southern United States where they meet the Gulf of Mexico. The list of U.S. states and territories by coastline, coastal states that have a shor ...

and Mid-Florida with 48 percent (Rubio, 21%; Cruz, 18%; Kasich, 7%; Carson, 1%). Rubio, for his part, won in

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

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 Cubans ( es, Cubanos) are people born in Cuba and people with Cuban citizenship. Cuba is a multi-ethnic nation, home to people of different ethnic, religious and national backgrounds. Racial and ethnic groups Census The population of Cuba wa ...

63–17, other

Hispanics The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties forme ...

40–38, and non-whites 45–27. After losing his home state of Florida, Rubio withdrew from the race. As

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

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 .. 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.

References

{{2016 Republican Primaries Republican primary

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

March 2016 events in the United States