Donald Trump Wins Florida Republican Presidential Primary

Former President Donald Trump decisively won the Florida Republican presidential  primary on Tuesday, a largely inevitable result now that all his GOP challengers have exited the race. He took first place with 81.2% of the vote, earning all 125 of Florida’s delegates and winning every single county in the state. Six other candidates appeared on the ballot against Trump, having fulfilled the requirements to do so before dropping out of the race. As the most recent exit Nikki Haley came in second with 13.9% of the vote, followed by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis with 3.7%. Trump himself now calls Florida his home state, having primarily relocated from New York amidst various legal battles there. The final results were as follows: Donald Trump – 81.2% (910,897 votes) Nikki Haley – 13.9% (155,463 votes) Ron DeSantis – 3.7% (41,234 votes) Chris Christie – 0.8% (8,951 votes) Vivek Ramaswamy – 0.3% (2,844 votes) Ryan Binkley – 0.1% (1,381 votes) Asa Hutchinson – 0.1% (1,188 votes) Trump carried the endorsements of both Florida’s U.S. senators, Marco Rubio and Rick Scott, as well his former opponent in DeSantis. Two congressmen representing the Flagler-Volusia area endorsed Trump: Michael Waltz and Cory Mills. For parts of the primary cycle it looked as though DeSantis may be able to beat Trump in the Florida primary; he polled even or slightly ahead of Trump multiple times from November 2022 to June 2023. As his campaign began to decline, eventually leading to his exit and endorsement of Trump, it became clear that the sitting governor has likely won his last statewide election for the foreseeable future. The Democratic Party didn’t hold a primary election in Florida, meaning incumbent President Joe Biden will win the state by default. Multiple smaller Democratic primary campaigns opposing Biden, including Congressman Dean Phillips and businesswoman Marianne Williamson, criticized the Florida Democratic Party’s decision to cancel the primary. Biden mathematically clinched the nomination on March 12th.