McCain wins Florida Republican primary

Discussions underway for possible endorsement, officials say

Last Updated: Tuesday, January 29, 2008 | 11:50 PM ET

CBC News

Arizona Senator John McCain won Florida's Republican primary Tuesday, beating an already wounded Rudy Giuliani, whose loss in the Sunshine state could signal the beginning of the end of his current presidential aspirations.

Republican presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani, centre, speaks at a stop in Sunny Isles Beach, Fla., on Tuesday.
(Gerald Herbert/Associated Press)

Returns from 81 per cent of the polls gave McCain 36 per cent of ballots cast, compared with 31 per cent for former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney. The two had appeared neck-and-neck at the top of opinion polls ahead of the vote.

"It shows one thing: I'm the conservative leader who can unite the party," McCain said of his first-ever victory in a primary open only to Republicans.

In the overall delegate race, McCain tops at 93, followed by Romney with 59 and former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee at 40. Giulani, who placed third in Florida, has just one.

Officials said advisers for McCain and Giuliani were in discussions following the tally about a possible endorsement in California later this week — a move that suggests the former New York mayor could withdraw from the Republican race.

Republican presidential candidates are scheduled to debate in Simi Valley Wednesday night.

"I'm proud that we chose to stay positive and to run a campaign of ideas in an era of personal attacks, negative ads and cynical spin," Giuliani said Tuesday night.

"You don't always win, but you can always try to do it right, and you did."

Economy cited in exit surveys

Voting began at 7 a.m. ET as polls across the state opened, although nearly one million Republicans in the state had already cast their ballots ahead of Tuesday's primary.

The economy was the issue of most importance for nearly half the Republican electorate, according to voter-exit surveys. Terrorism, the war in Iraq and illegal immigration were also of concern in Florida, where more than one-third of the voters are 65 or older.

Giuliani, who has spent the past month living and campaigning in Florida, has watched his once-significant lead in national opinion polls plummet in recent months. Still, he was confident he would win Florida despite spurning earlier contests in Iowa, New Hampshire, Michigan and South Carolina.

McCain's emphasis on his national security experience and war-hero status seem to have attracted support from the high numbers of military voters and their families who call Florida home.

A win in Florida for McCain — a Vietnam veteran and longtime maverick often at odds with his own party — could lock up his newfound status as Republican front-runner just before 24 other states vote in next week's "Super Tuesday" event.

Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney smiles while greeting Republican supporters Tuesday during a Florida primary campaign rally.
(L.M. Otero/Associated Press)

Amid a flurry of advertising by both campaigns in a state reeling under the subprime mortgage meltdown, Romney and McCain have traded bitter attacks on each other's records, each accusing the other of showing liberal tendencies in the past.

The Romney camp has gone after McCain's positions on immigration and energy, while McCain has targeted Romney's handling of the Massachusetts economy while he was governor and accused him of flip-flopping on every critical issue.

Hillary Rodham Clinton won a symbolic victory in the Florida Democratic primary Tuesday night. The Democrats, whose members were also voting Tuesday, had punished the state for moving up its primary date by stripping it of all its delegates for the party convention in September.

Following the decision, all the leading Democratic candidates pledged not to campaign in Florida. Clinton, a New York senator, nonetheless defended Florida's importance in the primary process, staging a rally in the state as the polls were closing.

The Republican party stripped Florida of half its delegates for its August convention after the state decided to move its primary from mid-March ahead of Super Tuesday.

A series of states will hold primaries and caucuses for both parties throughout the next six months to determine the eventual Republican and Democratic presidential candidates who will be officially nominated at the parties' national conventions before the November election.