Tuesday was a big day in Florida for the remaining presidential candidates, with each of the candidates churning out votes in one of the nation’s largest states in a last ditch effort to secure the GOP presidential nomination.
In the end, businessman and CEO Donald Trump emerged victorious, taking home all 99 delegates from the Sunshine State.
County by county, each candidate performed somewhat differently than their GOP rivals.
Here’s a breakdown of where candidates did best and worst across the Sunshine State.
Donald Trump
Statewide, Trump took most of the vote, receiving nearly 46 percent of the total vote. Trump seemed to outperform his GOP rivals in smaller, mostly rural counties, pushing people living in those areas to turn out to punch his name on the ballot at a far higher rate than any other candidate.
In places like Dixie County, Trump took nearly 64 percent of the vote. That trend continued in other areas like Glades, Gilchrist, Okeechobee, DeSoto and St. Lucie Counties, all of which had Trump winning nearly 58 percent of the vote or more.
Other counties rounding out the top 10 for Trump included Levy, Flagler, Putnam and Hamilton counties.
With the exception of St. Lucie County, all of those counties had less than 100,000 people -- several with less than 20,000.
Trump performed worst in Miami-Dade County, where he took only 22.5 percent of the vote. He also underperformed his typical numbers in Leon County, where he took less than 30 percent of the vote.
Marco Rubio
Tuesday was Rubio’s last hurrah in the GOP primary and he took 27 percent of the total statewide vote. Rubio had the most momentum in typically Democratic-leaning counties.
Rubio’s highest turnout rate happened in Miami-Dade County, the base of operations for Rubio’s presidential campaign. In that county, Rubio’s turnout numbers trampled over his competitors’, taking nearly 63 percent of the Republican vote.
Rubio also fared well in Orange, Alachua, Seminole, and Leon Counties. In Leon County in particular, Rubio’s numbers were neck-and-neck with Trump’s. There, Rubio took nearly 29 percent of the vote while Trump underperformed, taking nearly 30 percent of the GOP vote.
Rubio’s worst performance was in Dixie County, which has a population of less than 20,000 people.
Ted Cruz
Ted Cruz continued onward in his bid to become the GOP presidential nominee in Florida, taking 17 percent of the total vote, but it appears he had the most success in taking out votes from underneath Marco Rubio’s rug rather than Trump’s.
Cruz performed best in Jefferson, Wakulla, Washington, Liberty and Gadsden Counties, where he took over 31 percent in each county.
Cruz performed the worst in Miami-Dade County, where Rubio routed him significantly. There, the Texas Republican only took nine percent of the total vote.
John Kasich
Though he didn’t win Florida Tuesday, Kasich did take seven percent of the total vote. Kasich overperformed with Republican voters in more “country club” style counties like Martin and Sarasota Counties. There, the Ohio governor took over 11 percent of the vote.
That trend continued in other areas like Collier, Indian River and Palm Beach Counties, where Kasich took nine percent or more of the vote.
Kasich’s worst performance was in Lafayette County, where he barely had over 1.5 percent of the vote.
Reach reporter Allison Nielsen by email at allison@sunshinestatenews.com or follow her on Twitter: @AllisonNielsen.
