The 2008 Florida Republican presidential primary was held on January 29, 2008, with 57 delegates at stake on a winner-take-all basis. The

Republican National Committee The Republican National Committee (RNC) is the primary committee of the Republican Party of the United States. Its members are chosen by the state delegations at the national convention every four years. It is responsible for developing and pr ...

removed half of Florida's delegates because the state committee moved its Republican primary before February 5.

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

Senator and eventual nominee

John McCain John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American statesman and United States Navy, naval officer who represented the Arizona, state of Arizona in United States Congress, Congress for over 35 years, first as ...

won the primary with 36% of the vote. As a presidential candidate, former New York City mayor

Rudy Giuliani Rudolph William Louis Giuliani ( , ; born May 28, 1944) is an American politician and Disbarment, disbarred lawyer who served as the 107th mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001. He previously served as the United States Associate Attorney ...

concentrated heavily on the Florida primary. After coming in third place behind McCain and former Massachusetts Governor

Mitt Romney Willard Mitt Romney (born March 12, 1947) is an American businessman and retired politician. He served as a United States Senate, United States senator from Utah from 2019 to 2025 and as the 70th governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007 ...

, Giuliani dropped out of the race the following day. McCain's win helped him cement his status as the Republican primary frontrunner.

Campaign

campaigned quite heavily in Florida, which he expected to use as his "launch pad" for a "strong showing" on

Super Tuesday Super Tuesday is the United States presidential primary election day in February or March when the greatest number of U.S. states hold primary elections and caucuses. Approximately one-third of all delegates to the presidential nominatin ...

. He campaigned almost entirely in Florida, and largely ignored

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

and other states voting before February 5. Giuliani had been campaigning with virtually no opposition; however, following the South Carolina Republican primary, 2008, several candidates flew down to Florida to begin campaigning up to January 29 when the primary occurred. Polls taken before the primary showed that John McCain was the slight front runner over Mitt Romney. McCain received pivotal endorsements from Florida Governor

Charlie Crist Charles Joseph Crist Jr. ( ; born July 24, 1956) is an American attorney and politician who served as the 44th List of governors of Florida, governor of Florida from 2007 to 2011 and as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. represen ...

and Florida Senator Mel Martínez days before the primary.

Pre-primary polls

As of January 29,

RealClearPolitics RealClearPolitics (RCP) is an American political news website and polling data aggregator. It was founded in 2000 by former options trader John McIntyre and former advertising agency account executive Tom Bevan. It features selected polit ...

reported that the average support from polls taken in the days immediately prior to primary day placed McCain slightly in the lead with 30.7%, followed by Romney with 30.1%, Giuliani with 14.7%, Huckabee with 12.9%, and Paul with 3.6%. Former Senator

Fred Thompson Freddie Dalton Thompson (August 19, 1942 – November 1, 2015) was an American politician, attorney, lobbyist, columnist, actor, and radio personality. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as a Unite ...

and Representative Duncan Hunter, though already out of the race, still remained on the ballot in the Florida primary.

Results

On January 29, 2008, McCain prevailed in Florida's Republican presidential primary. McCain's victory in the state was credited to his victories in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties, which Giuliani had been expected to perform well in. * Candidate dropped out of the race prior to primary.

References

External links

Election Center 2008:Primary Results for Florida
{{2008Repprimaries

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

2008 Florida elections

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

Campaign

Pre-primary polls

Results

See also

References

External links