Trump, Clinton take Florida

Published 8:33 pm Tuesday, March 15, 2016

Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton came out on top in the Florida presidential primary Tuesday, drawing Suwannee County voters to the polls.

Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz came in second and third in the Republican primary, respectively.

In Suwannee County, Trump garnered 2,844 votes to Cruz with 1,645, Rubio with 858 and Kasich with 198 in the Republican primary.  

In the Democratic primary Sanders got 1,550 votes locally, to Clinton’s 1,475.

In Florida there were 99 delegates at stake for the Republicans and 214 for the Democrats.

Florida’s Republican primary is a winner-take-all contest, meaning all 99 delegates went to Trump.

Polls Tuesday were open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

About a quarter of the county’s 21,523 registered Democrats and Republicans made their choice through absentee ballots or early voting, said Suwannee County Supervisor of Elections Glenda Williams. 

In her office Tuesday morning, Williams said all of the county’s 16 voting precincts have stayed fairly busy. 

“I think it’s going to be a good turnout today,” she added. 

About 4,000 of the county’s registered voters are independents or belong to minor parties, making them ineligible to participate in the primaries.

In downtown Live Oak on Tuesday morning, Chris Summerlin and Lisa Harmon waved at traffic as they held signs in support of Ted Cruz. 

“He believes in the Constitution,” Summerlin said.

In the few hours they had been out to show their support, several people driving by yelled out in support for Trump and one person did the same for Sanders, they said. 

The John H. Hale Community Park served as the polling location for Precinct 1.

Michelle Henderson escorted Lettie Powell out of the building after they voted for Clinton. 

“We need a change,” Henderson said. “She’d be the first woman president.” 

Tommie Jefferson said he voted for Clinton due to her experience, adding he felt Sanders hadn’t sufficiently explained how he would pay for his policies.

Jefferson wondered how many people had voted at Precinct 1 that day.

“People have died just to get this right and this opportunity,” he said.