Florida Senator Marco Rubio won the Republican primary election in Puerto Rico on Sunday, a rare bright spot in his White House campaign. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders notched wins in the Nebraska and Kansas caucuses, while front-runner Hillary Clinton snagged a win in the Louisiana primary.
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The fourth candidate on the GOP side, Ohio Gov. John Kasich, said over the weekend that he believes he can convince some of Trump’s supporters to back him instead of the billionaire because he has better answers on how to fix the nation’s problems. Since there are no congressional districts, all 23 of them are bound (on the first ballot) to candidates based on the results of the vote.
“Not because I became less conservative, but because I took our conservative principles to people who are living the way I grew up”, Rubio said after the results came in. A candidate needs to win a total of 2,383 delegates in order to win the Democratic nomination.
With all votes reporting, the Florida senator took 71 percent of the vote, followed by Donald Trump at 13 percent, Texas Sen.
He has 151 delegates to date compared to Cruz’ 300 and Trump’s 384.
Prisoners like all Puerto Rico residents are allowed to vote in US Primary elections but can not vote in US general presidential elections.
Rubio, who was born in Miami to Cuban immigrant parents, will face stiff competition for his home state’s winner-take-all 99 delegates from Cruz – also of Cuban descent – who has been beefing up his network of campaign offices in the Sunshine State in recent days.
The Florida Senator was widely-expected to win the Puerto Rico primary, and he received key endorsements from leaders there. Do you support Cruz, Kasich, Rubio, or Trump? Marco Rubio, R-Fla., speaks in Toa Baja, Puerto Rico, on Saturday. Exit polling information is scare but a CNN projection found each of the island’s eight electoral districts – including the tourist district of San Juan – chose Rubio by an average of 73.8 percent. Otherwise, they are distributed proportionally, though a candidate would have to get at least 20 percent to qualify.
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Be proactive – Use the “Flag as Inappropriate” link at the upper right corner of each comment to let us know of abusive posts. Officials said votes cast Friday by some 6,000 inmates would not be available until Wednesday. Ted Cruz. Voter Luis Rosario said the real estate tycoon has the business savvy to turn around the economy in Puerto Rico, where unemployment is above 12 percent and a debt of about $70 billion has the government teetering on the brink of insolvency.
