Hillary Clinton won the Florida primary on Tuesday, continuing her dominance in the South with help from Hispanics and older Democratic voters.
Going into the primary, Clinton led Sanders by a large margin, according to averages of Florida polls. The former secretary of state has consistently been more popular among black and Hispanic voters, leading her to sweep the Southern primaries thus far.
Clinton has also done well among voters over 60, a key demographic in Florida. Florida’s voters are also 23 percent Hispanic.
Although Sanders has not historically excelled among Hispanic voters, his campaign has attempted to reach out to them in recent weeks by contrasting Sanders’ immigration policies with Clinton’s and likening Sanders’ family’s immigration story with Latinos. During the Univision democratic debate in Miami last week, Sanders earned applause for his plans to end deportations and ease immigration restrictions.
“When Hillary Clinton was trying to use the Latino community as her firewall, Bernie Sanders was trying to transcend ethnicity and connect with people on issues,” Sanders surrogate and former Nevada Assemblywoman Lucky Flores insisted on a press call last week. “This isn’t a community that is going to vote for someone because they know their name.”
But, with Clinton’s performance in Florida her “Southern firewall” draws to an end and she continues to increase her lead over the Vermont senator.
