Trump wins Florida, key swing state
Trump wins Florida, key swing state:- Tump will be in line to receive Florida’s 29 electoral votes that could propel him into the White House.
Cheers went up when it was announced Trump had won Florida in a conference room at the Hilton Miami Airport, where a small group of Republicans had gathered to watch the presidential returns after Sen. Marco Rubio’s victory party.
“Liberty, liberty, liberty,” shouted Carlos Lumpuy as others hugged and shook hands.
Lumpuy, a 59-year-old Miami resident who owns a Washington, D.C., custodial firm, said a Trump presidency would “change the world” by advancing freedom, cutting the country’s debt and putting more Americans to work.
“What we’ve witnessed tonight is a revolution like none since Lincoln,” Lumpuy said.
Both Trump and Clinton, the Democratic nominee, pegged their campaign fortunes to Florida where nearly 9.5 million voters cast ballots.
Clinton and Trump and their allies spent in excess of $120 million dollars in advertising in the lead-up to Election Day, according to Kantar Media’s political ad tracker. More money was spent on television advertising in Florida than any other state in the nation.
The two nominees — as well as their top backers — repeatedly made campaign swings through the state to boost turnout. Clinton lost Florida even though President Barack Obama campaigned on her behalf in the Sunshine State.
Trump’s victory snaps a streak by Democratic presidential candidates. Obama carried the state in both 2008 and 2012. GOP President George W. Bush won Florida during his 2004 re-election bid.
Trump’s win appeared to stun Clinton’s supporters.
“I think it was kind of a surprise because we were expecting so much more,” said Joana Vargas, 24, who watching results at a bar in Orlando. “Obama had won the state back in 2012. So I think it’s really depressing that a lot of people didn’t go out there and vote just because they thought it was a joke or whatever or they didn’t feel the need to.”
Trish Collins, a 39-year-old human resources manager, watched results at a St. Petersburg bar in silence. She is a Clinton supporter.
“I did not walk in tonight and think it was going to be this close,” she said. “I’m leaving here feeling very nervous and sad.”
Trump, a part-time resident of the state, easily won the state’s Republican presidential primary in March, when he crushed Rubio, forcing him from the presidential race.
While some top Republicans, including Gov. Rick Scott, endorsed Trump, he had trouble winning over some Republicans, including those living in populous Miami-Dade County. Rubio did endorse his former rival but then opted against campaigning with him in the closing weeks before Election Day.
Democratic strategist Steve Schale, who ran Obama’s 2008 Florida campaign and was a top 2012 adviser, said Trump ran up high margins in mid-size suburban counties that swamped traditional strongholds in South Florida. He said Democrats attacked Trump for being a racist and xenophobic without sufficiently addressing fears white, middle-class voters have about the economy.
“If you’re in your mid-40s and you’re looking at not having a pension, and you haven’t gotten a pay raise in eight years, and your taxes are going up and your friends are losing their jobs, yeah, it’s really scary,” Schale said.
Trump supporters Dylan Thompson, 18, and Daniel Guillen, 20, said they weren’t surprised their candidate won Florida because of his get out the vote effort.
“The last two weeks they were hiring $18 to $25 an hour, just go out and knock doors,” said Thompson, a student at Florida Southwestern College. “Then the last debate, he killed it,” added Guillen, who attends the University of Miami.
Source:-Â http://www.wokv.com/news/ap/florida/florida-florida-florida-state-could-swing-us-elect/ns5cR/
