Donald Trump landslide swamps Marco Rubio campaign; Clinton posts big win
In an utter rout, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton dominated Florida's presidential primary Tuesday, scoring their biggest electoral prizes so far in a pair of landslides -- and, in Trump's case, burying the ambitions of Miami favorite Marco Rubio.
Rubio ended his candidacy minutes later, conceding his message failed to resonate with frustrated voters.
"While we are on the right side, this year we will not be on the winning side," he said.
He offered an outline of how the politics of anger engulfed the conservative movement, and warned of dire consequences if its leaders don't propose a more restrained, optimistic vision. It was an indirect critique of Trump, whom Rubio congratulated from stage but said he hadn't yet spoken to.
"I understand all of these frustrations, and yet when I decided to run for president, I decided to run a campaign that was realis
tic on all of these challenges," he said. "From a political standpoint, the easiest thing to have done in this campaign is to jump on all of those anxieties."
Clinton and Trump won so decisively that both the Democratic and Republican races were called as soon as Florida polls closed at 8 p.m.
For once, an election in Florida -- known for its ballot-counting dysfunction -- ended early. And that meant a brutal night for Rubio, who desperately needed a Florida win to credibly continue in the race, and had guaranteed he'd emerge victorious.
Instead, he was humiliated in his home state.
Shortly before Trump was declared the winner, Rubio volunteers exchanged forlorn hugs. Shortly after, and by coincidence, Avicii's Wake Me Up played. As in, "wake me up when it's all over." When Fox News announced the results, a few in the crowd boos. Others half-heartedly chanted, "We want Marco!"
Trump's resounding Florida victory came despite being outspent 8-to-1 in advertising by Rubio allies and anti-Trump forces, which are running out of time to stop the celebrity real-estate mogul.
Clinton awaited results at the nearby Palm Beach Convention Center, where her loyal supporters began celebrating early.
"I have been a fan since she helped Bill run when he was first elected," said an effusive Margot Collins, a retired middle-school teacher from Palm Beach Gardens who said she's followed Clinton's career for decades. "She is like the mother of the Democratic Party. She takes care of everybody."
Even the people who did vote in Miami-Dade County for their U.S. senator struggled to muster much excitement.
"Realistically, it's because I want someone else who's not Trump," said 27-year-old Vivian Marquez, who cast her ballot at the Coral Gables library.
His campaign seemed to know what was coming. It booked an unusually small venue -- the lobby of Florida International University's basketball arena -- that appeared to portend bad news. At one point, it looked like it contained more reporters than Rubio supporters.
Rubio left a race that once had an unprecedented two candidates from Miami without a Floridian. Trump calls Florida his second home but lives in New York.
Unlike the fall of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, which dragged out over months, Rubio's campaign collapsed in a matter of a mere few weeks. He placed second in South Carolina last month but managed first-place finishes only in Minnesota, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia in March, leaving him badly trailing Trump and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz in delegates to the Republican nominating convention.
Rubio was forced to wage it all on Florida, ignoring a slew of other states. His campaign even urged his Ohio backers to vote for Ohio Gov. John Kasich, who was in a tight race with Trump and, like Rubio, couldn't afford a loss.
Florida, a bellwether in national politics and the country's largest swing state, proved to be Trump Country.
In overwhelmingly Democratic Broward County, Republican voter Wilma Maly of Wilton Manors cast her ballot for Trump.
"I know I am in enemy territory," said Maly, 83.
"I like him because he is different," she added of Trump. "He is not afraid. He says what a lot of people wish they had the guts to say."
And, she added: "He's a brilliant businessman."
McClatchy Washington correspondents Lesley Clark and Miami Herald staff writers Lance Dixon, Joey Flechas, Douglas Hanks, Monique O. Madan, Amy Sherman, David Smiley and Michael Vazquez contributed to this report.
This story was originally published March 15, 2016 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Donald Trump landslide swamps Marco Rubio campaign; Clinton posts big win ."