LIVEBLOG: Trump, Clinton victorious in Florida primary
Follow along on Twitter at @ben_brasch.
Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are the winners of the Florida's Presidential Preference Primary.
Clinton had many advantages baked into this Florida win, including: many female, elderly, and minority voters. Even more so, the state's closed primary prevented independent-leaning voters from casting a ballot for Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.
Hillary Clinton scores decisive win in Florida primary
Donald Trump wins Florida primary, Rubio suspends campaign
Live updates continue below.
10:55 p.m. update:
Hear what UCF students have to say
As a sea of students flooded the Pegasus Ballroom on March 15 to see Bill Nye speak, it seemed like only a handful trickled into the on-campus polling station to cast their votes for presidential nominees.
But by the time the polling station closed at 7 p.m., 450 votes had been cast, accounting for 71 percent of all ballots counted in precinct 538, which represents UCF.
The polling station opened at 7 a.m. at The Venue located in the CFE Arena, and drew in voters hoping to have their voices heard in the first round of this year’s presidential election.
For UCF junior Jamie Caldaro, a forensic science student: “Once you get to the presidential election, you’re kind of stuck. You should cast your opinion on what candidate you want from your party before you get to the big election because then you’re kind of locked in at the general election. You really don’t have a reason to complain if you didn’t cast your vote in the primaries.”
Visiting instructor Megan Lambert: “This presidential election is really crucial, so picking the best candidate for both parties at this stage of the game is really important. If people aren’t a fan of either of the two people it comes down to, it can be really problematic later on.”
As a first-year instructor, Lambert said her frequent interactions with first-time voters have allowed her to gauge political trends.
“I feel like there’s really a divide,” she said. “Students tend to be either really informed and excited, or not aware that this is a process yet since the big election isn’t until November.”
John Massarda, an integrated business student who has been voting since he was 18, who was raised Republican: “I’m not really feeling the Republican party right now. Trump is at the top of my hate list. … Everyone changes their moral views over time as you grow up, you change your views on life, and I feel like now I’m more independent,” he said. “We’re a part of our future, that's how I feel, and if you really think like that, then you’re going to care about who is our next president.”
8:26 p.m. update:
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio drops out
In a strong speech, Rubio drops out of the Republican race to the White House, leaving only Donald Trump and Ohio Gov. John Kasich.
8:05 p.m. update:
Early numbers show Trump, Clinton as Florida's Republican winner
Early returns showed Trump with about 46 percent of the vote compared to 27 percent for home-state senator Marco Rubio, mirroring polls that showed the real estate mogul with a 20-point lead.
The New York Times is calling Hillary Clinton the Democratic winner.
A victory in the state would give Trump all 99 of the state's delegates, bringing him closer to the 1,237 needed to wrap up the presidential nomination.
Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas followed in third place with 17 percent. Ohio Gov. John Kasich was in fourth place with about 7 percent.
7:30 p.m. update:
So that's why my lines were short!
More than 2 million Florida voters, or 23.1 percent of the state’s registered Republicans and Democrats, cast presidential primary ballots before the polls even opened Tuesday, according to the state Division of Elections. Of those, almost 1.2 million mailed in absentee ballots, with the rest visiting one of the state’s early voting polling places.
► Total presidential ballots cast before Primary Day: 2,046,632
► Absentee: 688,363 Republicans, 499,035 Democrats mailed in ballots
► Early voting: 490,062 Republicans, 369,172 Democrats cast early ballots
Florida Republicans turned out in greater number, and at a higher rate, than Florida Democrats.
► 1,178,425 Republicans voted absentee or early, which is a 27.6 percent turnout
► 868,207 Democrats voted absentee or early, which is a 19 percent turnout
7:03 p.m. update:
Polls closed ... mostly
The polls are closed for most of the state with polls closing at 8 p.m. EST in the Florida Panhandle.
6:55 p.m. update:
How well do you know the candidates' hands?
After what seems like a lifetime of campaigning, you think you know these candidates like the back of your hands? But do you know their hands?
Some Americans became fixated on Donald Trump's hands after jabs from opponent Marco Rubio. Trump went on to defend other parts of his anatomy during a FOX News debate. And in a March 6 episode of "Last Week Tonight" host John Oliver continued to rub salt in the wound.
So Caroline Glenn of FLORIDA TODAY made a gallery for you to test your knowledge of the candidates' hands.
6:37 p.m. update:
Last-minute Rubio voter on opponents: 'Those are two turds!’
Dozens of Cape Coral residents were determined to beat the post-work rush of primary voters Tuesday.
Voters at precinct Nos. 94 and 97 at Vineyard Community Church ran the gamut from backing Texas Sen. Ted Cruz for being anti-establishment while others cited former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s experience in government as the reason for their support.
One voter, Walt Werner, who voted for Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, expressed dismay at Florida’s position in the primary schedule.
“I’m getting pretty tired of some pasty white Iowa communities narrowing the list down for us,” Werner said. “They’re handing us two turds and asking me which one smells better and I’m standing here going ‘Those are two turds!’”
Werner said his vote for Rubio was, in part, to block businessman and front-runner Donald Trump.
5:05 p.m. update:
First-time voters share experience with loved ones
A polling worker at precinct No. 59 at the Fort Myers Congregational United Church of Christ said voting has been steady throughout the day.
More than a dozen people, cast their vote between 3 and 4 p.m. at the College Parkway church.
Mary Barnes said she voted for Donald Trump.
"I think he is very smart and I like the answers to all the questions that reporters have asked him," Barnes said. "I think he can accomplish everything that he has set out to do."
Lynn Williams disagrees. Anything but Trump, she said.
Williams is a Clinton supporter, but the registered republican opted for Florida Sen. Marco Rubio during the primaries.
The registered Republican voted for Marco Rubio calling him the lesser of the "evils" running for the nomination.
"The whole thing has been such a fiasco," Williams, 45, said. "I've never seen a race like this in my life. It's disgraceful."
Williams said one of the iPads used went down for a minute, but she was able to vote.
She escorted her 18-year-old daughter Emalyn Williams to the polls to cast a vote in her first election.
"I feel like it's exciting that I get to share my opinion on something that is bigger than voting for class president," Emalyn said.
The young voter said she was persuaded to vote for Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders because of his stance to legalize marijuana and free college tuition.
Voting in his first election, too, was 62-year-old Reymundo Merida.
He arrived in the United States about 30 years ago from Mexico but became a citizen in 2011.
"I feel good," Merida said in Spanish. "I feel more secure about this country."
Merida and his long-time friend 50-year-old Hector R. Sierra voted for Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.
"I got to says its got to be the years of expertise and the years on politics and because her own husband ruled fantastically," Sierra said. "Despite his little problems, he rules fantastically."
Sierra said he believes Clinton will be the best person to fix this country's broken immigration system.
"The very issue of immigration, not per-say for me, but I have a couple of friends that go through a lot in each day living," Sierra said. "And they need a better immigration law and they haven't got it yet. Obama has been trying to do it but it hasn't gone his way."
For 73-year-old Carl Slawson, the candidate is Republican Ted Cruz.
"I like him; he's a spiritual Christian," Slawson said. "His values are the same as mine on abortion, homosexuality, government."
Slawson is focused on foreign policy issues like the border, al-Qaeda and ISIS.
"I think he will have a handle on them," Slawson said.
The issues of education and health are important for 44-year-old Sandra Rosales who voted for Clinton.
"I've been a fan of hers for years," she said. "I think she's got all that power and determination and she's a strong woman."
- Melissa Montoya, reporter at The News-Press.
Tuesday primaries: State-by-state roundups and results
4:38 p.m. update:
Pro-Kasich husband to wife: “You felt the Bern!”
Mike and Ava Roeder came together to the polling station at First Christian Church in Fort Myers.
He was originally a supporter of Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, but he now backs Ohio Gov. John Kasich
“I think he’s the best of the group,” he told Frank Gluck of The News-Press.
She cast a vote for Hillary Clinton.
“I voted for Hillary, although I was ready to take the ballot back and vote for Bernie (Sanders). I just don’t know,” she said.
Added Mike: “You felt the Bern!”
“I like that he’s determined,” Ava Roeder said. “He’s got some really idealistic goals, which are difficult to achieve, but at least he has those goals.”
Neither thinks much of Donald Trump.
“Donald is entertaining,” Ava Roeder said. “But it’s getting, my outlook on it, it’s getting more dangerous than entertaining.”
Dennis Ellerbusch of Fort Myers said he has long thought Sen. Bernie Sanders would make a good president.
“I’m a liberal,” he said. “When President Obama wasn’t getting a lot of things done in the first couple of years, my daughter said to me, ‘Well, who would you like to be president?
I thought about Bernie Sanders, and that was six years ago. He’s always been a senator I believed in.”
Ellerbusch said he supports Sanders’ economic views and his strong support of Civil Rights.
“He’s fighting for the working class,” he said.
4:22 p.m. update:
Central Florida ballot flub causes ask for extended poll hours
The Orange County Supervisor of Elections Bill Cowles has asked Florida Secretary of State Ken Detzner to keep polls open an extra hour in cities where not enough ballots were printed.
"It's an ongoing situation," Cowles told the Orlando Sentinel out 3 p.m.
Detzner has not responded.
Cities impacted include: Apopka, Belle Isle, Maitland, Ocoee, Windermere and Winter Park.
An Apopka resident and his wife went to vote mid-morning, and a worker told them the polling place had run short on ballots.
"It's critical to us," David Hoffman told the newspaper. "If people don't vote, that could swing elections."
"The trouble arose because some ballots had to be city-only for voters not registered with a party, while others included the presidential primary," the newspaper reported. "A 'data glitch' caused too many ballots to be ordered for one group of voters and not enough for the other."
It has gotten so bad that the elections office is even offering to drop off a ballot to voters' homes or offices and take it back to headquarters, the newspaper reported.
3:56 p.m. update:
Palm Beach Co. registration causes confusion
The Palm Beach Post is reporting that voter confusion in Palm Beach County spurred on a call by the Florida Department of State to the Palm Beach County supervisor of elections.
The confusion stems from dozens voters not registered as a Democrat nor Republican not realizing that Florida is a closed-primary state, PBC Elections Supervisor Susan Bucher told the newspaper.
"We have dozens and they're really mad. Traditionally they haven't voted in primaries," Bucher told the Palm Beach Post.
The county has 845,165 registered voters with 245,400 unaffiliated as of today. So while they will be able to vote in municipal elections, they cannot cast a ballot in the primary.
The News-Press obtained this statement from Florida Secretary of State Ken Detzner regarding voting in Palm Beach county:
“The Florida Department of State has spoken with the Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections office and all eligible voters are able to vote. Anyone who is registered as No Party Affiliation (NPA) is not able to vote for a Republican or Democratic nominee in the Presidential Preference Primary (PPP).
“No Party Affiliation voters who showed up at the polls were provided with ballots for local municipal races. Pursuant to Florida law, only voters registered for one of Florida’s major political parties by the bookclosing deadline (February 16) are eligible to vote in the Presidential Preference Primary.
“Ballots for the Presidential Preference Primary contain each of the nominee names certified on Dec. 15."
2:41 p.m. update:
Get a comedic break from the political insanity
See the photo gallery of political cartoons below assembled by Caroline Glenn of FLORIDA TODAY.
2:27 p.m. update:
UCF students having their voices heard
More than one-third of the voters registered to the polling precinct at the University of Central Florida have already cast their ballots in the Florida primaries, reported Bernard Wilchusky, editor-in-chief of UCF student paper Central Florida Future.
At the time of publishing, a total of 237 voters had cast their ballots at UCF, including 184 regular ballots, 41 early ballots and 12 absentee ballots, according to the Orange County Supervisor of Elections website. This represents 37.38 percent of voters registered to appear at precinct 538, which represents UCF.
Voters must appear at their registered polling precincts to cast a ballot in the Florida primaries. Because Florida is a closed primary state, voters may only cast a ballot for candidates of their registered party. Unaffiliated voters will receive a nonpartisan ballot that allows them to vote on “judicial and school board offices, as well as local referendum questions,” according to the elections website.
UCF polling station sees moderate voter turnout
UCF Democrats paint campus blue for state primary
1:56 p.m. update:
Scott, Rubio appear on TV
Gov. Rick Scott was just getting interesting this morning when Fox News lost its satellite feed from Tallahassee and cut off this view of Sen. Marco Rubio’s presidential prospects in the Florida primary, reported the Tallahassee Democrat.
Scott, who was widely lampooned last week when he refused to address controversial remarks by Donald Trump in an appearance on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” was a bit more communicative on today’s “America’s Newsroom” program. But the questions were pretty much in his wheelhouse, focusing on how many absentee and early voting ballots had been cast so far. Fox tried to get him to finally endorse someone in the GOP primary, but Scott stuck by his pledge to stay neutral until at least Wednesday.
Rubio himself followed the governor on Fox, saying he expects to do well in his home state — and that he won’t drop out if he loses the state’s 99 delegate votes. Rubio said, “What’s at stake here is the country and the future of the conservative movement, and the future of the Republican Party.”
Rick Scott talks primary voting, Marco Rubio on Fox News
1:12 p.m. update:
Floridian veteran methodical with vote
When deciding which candidate to vote for, Eduardo De Jesus treated it like a job interview. He evaluated which candidate would continue the changes started by President Obama and which candidate would take the nation "to the next step." On Tuesday, he made his choice at a polling station in Fort Lauderdale, Florida: Hillary Clinton.
Clinton is the only candidate who can work with Congress to get things done, he told the Associated Press.
"Hillary Clinton. She is the best prepared. She has done it," said De Jesus, a 56-year-old Navy veteran who currently is director of operations for a medical insurance company. "She has been there. She is the person that should replace Barack Obama."
Trump has been disrespectful to the election process, De Jesus said.
"My hope is that America can wake up and say, 'This is our process for democracy.' And this will come to pass," he said.
On the other side of the state, Ross Nichols, a 64-year-old retiree voting in Tallahassee, said he had planned on voting for Ben Carson until his wife persuaded him to switch over to Trump. Nichols joked that "Ben wouldn't keep his eyes open" during the debates.
His wife, Elvira Nichols, is a naturalized citizen who moved to the United States from Colombia 18 years ago. Elvira Nichols, 60, said she did a lot of research and she decided to back Trump. "I believe he's a leader" and that he has shown it through his business accomplishments, she said.
Nichols said she feels that illegal immigrants get "free schools" and "free benefits" while "my husband has been struggling."
"I think it's not fair," Nichols said.
12:55 p.m. update:
Panhandle Republican: 'There were not as many qualified candidates as I’d like.'
Watch a Florida panhandle resident explain why he voted for Donald Trump here.
BLOG: Trump, Clinton win SR, Escambia
A steady stream of voters on Tuesday morning filed into Immanuel Baptist Church, voting site for Santa Rosa County precincts 20 and 31, reported the Pensacola News Journal.
Pace resident Paul Boshard cast his vote for a Republican presidential nominee at about 9 a.m. at the church.
“That was probably the toughest time I’ve had in a primary,” Boshard said. “There were not as many qualified candidates as I’d like.”
Boshard said his preference was for 2012 Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney to seek the nomination. He voiced some frustration, though, that Romney spoke out in recent weeks against Republican front-runner Donald Trump.
“I wish he hadn’t done that, not that I was for Trump, but that kind of left a bitter taste in my mouth,” Boshard said.
A few of the voters at the church spoke of how important this election is for the country. Boshard countered that he heard the same in previous presidential elections.
“They say that every single time,” he said. “I’m not saying it’s not important, but as I get older, I realize what they say isn’t always what they’re able to do.”
12:43 p.m. update:
Central Florida ballot mix-up causing concern
Some Central Florida precincts have run out of ballots because of a ballot mix-up caused by local elections landing on the same day as the primaries, the Orlando Sentinel reported.
Orange County Elections Supervisor Bill Cowles told the newspaper it all stemmed from a misallocation of the number of ballots delivered to Winter Park, Apopka, Windermere, Maitland, Ocoee and Belle Isle.
"In those cities, there was a need for some ballots to be city-only for voters not registered with a party, while others included the presidential primary," the newspaper reported.
The problem first was noticed this morning in Apopka, Cowles was reported saying, and a new batch of ballots is already there, he said.
Sergio Ramos of Winter Park voted for Florida Sen. Marco Rubio.
"I think we should be very ashamed of ourselves if we want Donald Trump to be the face of America," Ramos, 43, who was born in Cuba and runs a family-owned jewelry store, told the Sentinel. "Our presidential election has turned into the Jerry Springer show."
12:36 p.m. update:
Countdown Coast voters get into the polls early
Get a feel for how the primary is going in Brevard County from our partners at FLORIDA TODAY.
Live: Florida voters head to the polls on Primary Day
Watch early-morning voters in Brevard shuffle into the polls.
12:33 p.m update:
Smooth sailing at the polls, so far
Secretary of State Ken Detzner, Florida's chief elections official, told the Tallahassee Democrat he predicts a "historic" turnout today.
Detzner said 3,000 people voted within the first 10 minutes of in-person Election Day voting in Hillsborough County. That's only a handful of the state's 5,810 polling places.
"My indications are that we're going to have a record turnout today," Detzner told Karl Etters, Democrat staff writer.
Early voting numbers this year surpassed 2012 presidential election totals and Detzner predicted a large voter turnout Tuesday.
"It's going to be heavy and it's going to be historic," he said.
The record for primary voter turnout was 42 percent in 2008.
In general, Leon County's 90 polling locations opened without a hitch. Leon County Supervisor of Elections Ion Sancho and his staff were busy early Tuesday fielding calls from each individual precinct reporting they were open and that there were no issues with voting machines.
As of Monday, 30,000 of the 154,000 total Leon County voters had already cast ballots early or by mail and another 900 will be certified this morning during a Canvassing Board meeting.
Leon County polls open smoothly
11:10 a.m. update:
'Hiccup' at the polls in Orange County
A few glitches at Central Florida polls were being reported, including an early-morning delay at Precinct 505 in Orange County. The cause is an electronic registry used to check in voters before they are allowed to cast ballots, said Orange County Elections Supervisor Bill Cowles according to the Orlando Sentinel.
He described it to the newspaper as a "hiccup."
11:04 a.m. update:
The few, the proud: Alva voters
Early-morning voters usually abound at Precinct 1 in the rural east Lee County community of Alva.
Between 7:30 and 8 this morning, though, fewer than a dozen entered the community center to vote in Florida’s presidential primary, reported Laura Ruane with The News-Press.
It wasn’t clear why. A couple of people said they just hadn’t gotten around to going to one of the early voting locations.
Realtor Luann Collins said she voted for Donald Trump because “I believe in making a difference.”
Issues that matter to Collins include “jobs, of being able to not have workers go out of country.
“I believe (Trump) is a businessman that has been successful in the past, and that politicians don’t seem to be getting the job done,” Collins said.
10:54 a.m. update:
Poll glitch ripples to all Duval precincts
Elections IT crews attended to a computer glitch at all 199 precincts in Duval County. Brad Mielke of ABC News Radio reports:
While we look for news throughout the state, see some stories from throughout the USA TODAY Network about the Florida's primary:
Five things to know about the Florida primary
Poll: Donald Trump crushes Marco Rubio in Florida
1 in 4 Lee County voters have already cast ballot