The 2016 Florida Democratic presidential primary took place on March 15 in the U.S. state of Florida as one of the Democratic Party's primaries ahead of the 2016 presidential election.

On the same day, the Democratic Party held primaries in Illinois, Missouri, North Carolina and Ohio, while the Republican Party held primaries in the same five states, including their own Florida primary, plus the Northern Mariana Islands.

Clinton's landslide was fueled by support from retirees, Jewish and Latino voters in South Florida.

Debates and forums March 2016 debate in Miami

On March 9, 2016, the Democratic Party held an eighth presidential debate at Miami Dade College in Miami, Florida. It was broadcast through a partnership between Univision and The Washington Post.

Opinion polling

Results

Results by district

Florida Democratic primary, March 15, 2016 District Delegates Votes Clinton Votes Sanders Votes Qualified Clinton delegates Sanders delegates 1 3 26987 18497 45484 2 1 2 6 50190 34073 84263 4 2 3 4 32070 27974 60044 2 2 4 4 33920 22765 56685 2 2 5 6 55855 18639 74494 4 2 6 5 37995 24443 62438 3 2 7 5 37410 26795 64205 3 2 8 5 39384 24376 63760 3 2 9 5 40609 19880 60489 3 2 10 5 38011 22213 60224 3 2 11 5 38061 21590 59651 3 2 12 5 35498 23172 58670 3 2 13 6 44121 29707 73828 4 2 14 6 49146 23617 72763 4 2 15 5 32793 20712 53505 3 2 16 6 43921 25856 69777 4 2 17 4 29899 17045 46944 3 1 18 6 42804 20620 63424 4 2 19 4 31958 17235 49193 3 1 20 7 61998 15761 77759 6 1 21 7 57723 22100 79823 5 2 22 6 49602 22209 71811 4 2 23 6 44510 19974 64484 4 2 24 8 59274 13893 73167 6 2 25 3 24897 9287 34184 2 1 26 4 32069 14148 46217 3 1 27 4 30709 12258 42967 3 1 Total 140 1101414 568839 1670253 93 47 PLEO 28 1101414 568839 1670253 18 10 At Large 46 1101414 568839 1670253 30 16 Gr. Total 214 1101414 568839 1670253 141 73 Total vote 64.44% 33.28% 1,709,183 Source:

Results by county

CountyClintonSanders# %# % Alachua17,73349.2%17,590 48.8% Baker65438.5%805 47.4% Bay5,20952.6%4,131 41.7% Bradford1,05648.7%908 41.8% Brevard31,83559.7%20,083 37.7% Broward132,52772.5%48,330 26.4% Calhoun43736.2%545 45.2% Charlotte8,12562.1%4,634 35.4% Citrus6,86356.3%4,776 39.2% Clay5,34557.1%3,698 39.5% Collier12,71266.1%6,127 31.9% Columbia2,29952.9%1,676 38.6% DeSoto98752.6%726 38.7% Dixie40940.2%459 45.1% Duval58,63267.2%26,716 30.6% Escambia16,76562.2%9,318 34.6% Flagler6,15265.8%2,977 31.9% Franklin66547.0%647 45.7% Gadsden7,44676.4%1,944 20.0% Gilchrist42837.5%578 50.7% Glades38749.9%313 40.3% Gulf56847.4%520 43.4% Hamilton75854.7%479 34.6% Hardee52952.7%393 39.1% Hendry1,15660.6%647 33.9% Hernando8,88259.6%5,512 37.0% Highlands3,71161.4%2,054 34.0% Hillsborough68,93662.8%38,505 35.1% Holmes33928.3%619 51.7% Indian River6,89762.4%3,926 35.5% Jackson2,79853.9%1,840 35.5% Jefferson1,67164.6%762 29.5% Lafayette29530.0%501 50.9% Lake15,91463.5%8,465 33.8% Lee27,94062.7%15,624 35.0% Leon27,33356.5%19,866 41.1% Levy1,57050.0%1,354 43.1% Liberty31638.0%392 47.1% Madison1,54262.4%741 30.0% Manatee18,11662.5%10,165 35.1% Marion18,22062.7%9,892 34.1% Martin6,52359.8%4,101 37.6% Miami-Dade129,46774.7%42,009 24.3% Monroe4,83055.3%3,739 42.8% Nassau2,91056.2%2,060 39.8% Okaloosa4,55952.0%3,782 43.1% Okeechobee1,15055.2%784 37.6% Orange66,65463.8%36,639 35.1% Osceola16,51268.2%7,273 30.0% Palm Beach103,36971.5%39,314 27.2% Pasco21,76058.3%14,493 38.9% Pinellas63,69960.3%39,742 37.6% Polk29,32863.0%15,473 33.3% Putnam3,18249.4%2,747 42.7% Santa Rosa3,93849.2%3,602 45.0% Sarasota25,88161.1%15,776 37.3% Seminole22,06958.3%15,100 39.9% St. Johns9,73457.0%6,953 40.7% St. Lucie17,55466.9%8,091 30.8% Sumter7,02268.1%3,022 29.3% Suwannee1,47542.2%1,550 44.3% Taylor98345.9%907 42.4% Union33636.7%472 51.6% Volusia26,27660.2%16,170 37.1% Wakulla1,65948.9%1,424 42.0% Walton1,51550.0%1,361 44.9% Washington85847.1%781 42.9%Total 1,101,41464.4%568,839 33.3%

Analysis Florida was generally viewed as a state Hillary Clinton would win, given her strong performance in previous contests with older voters (who comprised 65% of the Democratic electorate in Florida, the largest in any contest) and non-white voters (who made up 52% of the electorate). Clinton won the Florida Primary by 31 points, winning older voters by a margin of 71–26, and non-white voters by a margin of 74–25. Specifically, she won Hispanic/Latino voters by a margin of 68-32 (who made up 20% of the electorate), and African American voters 81-18 (who comprised 27% of the electorate). Clinton also won white voters by a narrower margin of 53–43. She won across all income and educational attainment levels.

In terms of religious affiliation, Clinton won Protestants in Florida 69-29 (36% of the electorate), Catholics 69-29 (22% of the electorate), and other religious affiliations 68-31 (Jews were 4% of the electorate but were unaccounted for in exit polls). Sanders won voters who identified as agnostic/atheist 56–31. In terms of political ideology, Clinton won liberals 59-41 and moderates/conservatives 70–26. And while Clinton won Democrats 71–28, Sanders won self-identified Independents 55–41.

Clinton won in Miami and along the Gold Coast 73–26, where there is a larger population of Hispanic/Latino voters who in South Florida are predominantly of Cuban or Nicaraguan descent. Clinton also won the Gulf Coast and Mid-Florida 64–35, the Tampa Bay Area 63–37, the Orlando area 62–34, and the Northern Panhandle which is whiter, more conservative and more rural by a smaller margin of 58–37.

References