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Who were Florida’s Primary voters? How did age, gender, race and party identification reveal themselves among Florida voters on January 29th?

Florida, unlike some states, had a closed primary election, which means only registered Republican voters and only registered Democrat voters could vote for their party’s respective candidates.

A closed primary provided the opportunity to examine who the core voters for each party were. An examination of state-wide voting statistics and exit polls reveals who actually voted, the level of public interest in elections, political parties, candidates, issues and politics.

Florida has over 10 million registered voters and on January 29, 41.4 percent or over four million expressed their preference for President. Lee County voters set the state-wide record with a 57.3 percent voter turnout. Collier County was slightly above the state average with 42.4 percent turnout.

The state-wide Democrat vote was approximately 1.75 million or just over 41 percent of the total vote.

One social indicator of voter preference is gender. Exit polls showed that females made up 59 percent of the Democratic Party vote and that males make up 41 percent. Sen. Hillary Clinton received 50 percent of her party’s primary voters in Florida while her main rival, Sen. Barack Obama received 33 percent. It is no surprise that Clinton received support from 54 percent of the Democrat female voter, while Obama garnered 42 percent.

Age is also a revealing statistic when presenting a picture of who voted. In the Florida primary 44 percent of the youth vote went to Clinton with 43 percent for Obama. The 30- to 44-year-old voters chose Clinton over Obama 42 percent to 41 percent. Forty-five- to 59-year-old Democratic voters chose Clinton 44 to 35 percent. Senior voters, those 60 and older, chose Clinton by the margin of 58 percent to 26 percent for Obama.

Race is also an indicator of voter preference. Obama received support from over 70 percent of the African American voters, with Clinton receiving 25 percent. Meanwhile Clinton received the majority of Hispanic Democratic vote, with 65 percent of the Democratic Hispanic female vote. Exit pollsters asked Democratic voters about their religion and church attendance. These polls revealed that 35 percent of Democratic voters attended church on a weekly basis and that Clinton received 43 percent of those voters, while Obama received 40 percent. Forty- one percent said they went to church ‘occasionally’ with Clinton receiving 53 percent of the vote and Obama receiving 30 percent. Democratic primary voters who ‘never’ go to church make up 22 percent of their electorate with Clinton receiving 50 percent of their vote and Obama receiving 30 percent.

Democratic voters were asked, Who is most qualified to be Commander-In-Chief? Florida Democratic voter’s chose Clinton 53 percent to 28 percent for Obama.

Democratic voters in Florida’s 14th Congressional District (Lee, Charlotte, Collier County) voted 55.8 percent for Clinton and 26.1 percent for Obama

On the Republican side, the Florida Republican primary was of particular importance because it provided the needed momentum for Sen. John McCain to push forward to win in the Super Tuesday primaries on Feb. 5 and also led to the withdrawal of former Mayor Rudi Giuliani.

Florida Republican primary voters present a different portrait than the Democrats. In state-wide voting Republican’s out numbered Democrat’s 59 to 41 percent. McCain received 36 percent of the vote while former Gov. Mitt Romney received 31 percent.

In the 14th Congressional District, Romney received his highest state-wide percent of the Republican vote with 41.3 percent, while McCain received 31.6 percent.

Based on gender, 56 percent of Republican primary voters on were men, 44 percent women. McCain received support from 37 percent of male voters and 34 percent of women voters. Meanwhile, Romney received 32 percent of male voters and 30 percent of female voters.

Age is an important factor in making voting decisions. Young Republican voters between 18 and 29, voted 30 percent for McCain and 23 percent for Romney. Romney received 33 percent of the 30 to 44 age group while McCain receiving 31 percent. Meanwhile, the 45 to 59 year olds supported McCain 34 percent and Romney 29 percent. The largest vote for Republicans is the over 60 age range with McCain and Romney garnering 39 and 34 percent respectively.

Race and voting patterns also had an impact in the Republican primary. Hispanics and Latinos, including Cubans made up 12 percent of total Republican vote. McCain received 54 percent of their vote, while Rudy Giuliani received 24 percent and Romney received 14 percent. Just three percent of Republican voters were African-Americans.

Church attendance for Republican’s is also an indicator of voter preference. Of the 44 percent of Republican voters who said they attend church on a weekly basis, 31 percent voted for Romney and 29 percent for McCain. Forty-two percent of Republicans attend church ‘occasionally’ and McCain received 39 percent of that vote while Romney received 33 percent. Of the 13 percent of Republicans who said they ‘never’ attend church, McCain received 43 percent of the vote and Romney got 28 percent.

How do Florida Republican primary voters view themselves on the political spectrum?

Exit polls revealed that 27 percent of Republican voters self identified as ‘very conservative’. Romney receiving 44 percent of their vote and McCain received 21 percent. In addition, Thirty-four percent of Republicans identified themselves as ‘somewhat conservative’. McCain received 35 percent of their vote and Romney tallied 32 percent. Self identified Republican moderates voted 2-to-one for McCain.

Finally, who did Republicans think has the best chance of winning in the November? Florida Republicans chose McCain over Romney 46 percent to 33 percent.

Voting habits and patterns provide an interesting picture of those who vote. Do you see yourself in the portrait?

Peter Bergerson is a professor of public affairs at Florida Gulf Coast University. If you have questions or responses to Dr. Politics columns, please contact Peter Bergerson at pbergers@fgcu.edu.