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madurobob
30th January 2008, 06:30 AM
I just heard an interesting story on NPR about the primary results in Florida. The reporter stated that not only did Hillary win the Democrat primary, but she also got more votes than any of the Republican candidates.

Anyone have the stats handy? I'll get to googling later this AM when I have some free time, but thought I'd ask.

So, if its true... why? The Democrat primary was boycotted by the candidates and Florida was stripped of its delegates. The Republican primary was highly sought after and heavily campaigned in by the candidates. Florida is also traditionally a red state. I would have expected this confluence of events to mean a heavy Republican turnout and a light Democrat turnout, but

Were Florida republicans just not motivated to vote in the primary, or was the vote so evenly divided that no one candidate got that many votes?
joobie
30th January 2008, 06:44 AM
yes, clinton got more votes than any of the republican candidates.

http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/primaries/results/state/#FL
Puppycow
30th January 2008, 06:47 AM
http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/primaries/results/state/#FL

Hillary got 50% of the dems that showed up while McCain got only 36% of the reps.

It appears that the total of all republicans is a larger number than the total of all democrats.
madurobob
30th January 2008, 07:05 AM
OK, I should really find time to research before I post. Yes, Hillary got more votes than any republican, but overall there were 1.9M votes cast in the Republican primary compared to 1.7M in the Democrat. With registered voters split 41% Democrat and 37% Republican it does suggest that Republicans were a bit more motivated to vote in the Primary.

That split of registered voters in Florida is also a surprise to me.. more registered Dems? I guess the 19% "independant" tend to lean to the right.
Lurker
30th January 2008, 07:17 AM
It's kind of meaningless because it is likely that many Dems did not vote in Florida due to the DNC stripping them of their delegates. So many Dem Florida voters probably stayed home instead of voting in a race that had no effect on delagate count.

Of course, Hillary will get some momentum from this as we ease in Super Duper Tuesday. And she is advocating (wrongly IMO) that the Florida delegates should count.
Wildy
30th January 2008, 07:21 AM
Can someone tell me how Thompson can still get votes if he isn't in the race?
Brainster
30th January 2008, 07:26 AM
That split of registered voters in Florida is also a surprise to me.. more registered Dems? I guess the 19% "independant" tend to lean to the right.

A lot of Southerners are still nominal Democrats and even vote that way for some local offices, but they're red for the big elections.

BTW, I wouldn't read a lot into the Florida numbers on the Democratic side. Hillary does not get the delegates (at least for now), and the candidates didn't campaign there.
kallsop
30th January 2008, 07:31 AM
Can someone tell me how Thompson can still get votes if he isn't in the race?


A few possibilities - votes mailed in before he dropped out, the ballots were printed a while ago and his name is still on, it's Florida and they can't count, ....
Bob Klase
30th January 2008, 08:35 AM
That split of registered voters in Florida is also a surprise to me.. more registered Dems? I guess the 19% "independant" tend to lean to the right.

That would have no bearing on the number of votes for any of the candidates. In Florida, only party members can vote for the candidates in their party's primary. Independants could only vote on the other issues on the ballot.
Bob Klase
30th January 2008, 08:37 AM
A few possibilities - votes mailed in before he dropped out, the ballots were printed a while ago and his name is still on, it's Florida and they can't count, ....

There were no printed ballots. Florida's still using the electronic voting machines (although it will be using paper optical scan system by November. But Thompson's name was still on the ballot and you could vote for him.
madurobob
30th January 2008, 01:08 PM
That would have no bearing on the number of votes for any of the candidates. In Florida, only party members can vote for the candidates in their party's primary. Independants could only vote on the other issues on the ballot.

Yes, I meant that Indys must lean to the right since in the general elections the state tends to the red.