‘This is a formality:’ Florida GOP not worried about protest votes in 2024 Presidential Primary

Florida Republicans, and Democrats in some counties, headed to the ballot box Tuesday.

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While the election won’t make a difference in terms of who clinches the Democratic or Republican nomination for President, it could reveal how Florida Republicans feel about sending former President Donald Trump back to the White House.

Both former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden have already secured the required number of delegates to secure their perspective parties’ nomination.

Florida Democrats even canceled their Presidential Primary, but Trump appeared alongside six other candidates on the Republican ticket.

While Trump is all but guaranteed to win the Presidential Primary in Florida, Florida Republicans had the opportunity to cast protest votes for other Republican candidates.

Most notably, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis dropped out of the race back in January after a decisive loss in Iowa.

Political pundits analyzed no-contest votes cast in states like Michigan as a way of predicting whether Biden may lack support among his Democratic base.

19 percent of voters elected not to vote for the Democratic incumbent in that state’s Presidential Primary on March 5th.

However, Florida GOP Chair Evan Power told Action News Jax he expects protest votes to be minimal in Florida.

“Obviously Governor DeSantis lives here and is still on the ballot and some people may vote for him for a number of different reasons, but people are turning out in a large number today to vote for their displeasure of Joe Biden,” said Power.

While former candidates could take some votes away from Trump in the Sunshine State, two Republican voters Action News Jax spoke with Tuesday told us even if those candidates were still in the race, they’d pick Trump.

“I like what he did last time. He got the economy back on track and he puts America and the military first,” said Duval voter Karen Williams.

“A lot of people see Trump on a bigger stage. I think he set himself up that way to be on a bigger stage and I don’t see DeSantis is that way,” said Duval voter Robert Neuman.

Power argued regardless of the vote share Trump receives in Florida, he doesn’t see a scenario in which the former President loses the state in the General Election.

“This is a formality so we can get to November. Another step in the right direction to retiring Joe Biden,” said Power.

Despite the low stakes, as of 5:00 p.m. 1.1 million voters had cast a ballot statewide, including just over 40,000 in Duval County.

Polls officially close at 7:00 p.m.

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