TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Florida’s winner-take-all Republican presidential primary was supposed to help home-state former Gov. Jeb Bush or Sen. Marco Rubio.
That was the thinking when the GOP-dominated Legislature changed the state’s primary date to the third Tuesday in March, the earliest it could hold an election that awarded all 99 Republican delegates to one candidate.
But that was before Republicans here even dreamed of, or had nightmares about, businessman and reality TV star Donald Trump winning the state. It was before Bush went from front-runner to dropout and Rubio began losing whatever momentum he had after poor debate performances.
Now the very plan to wrap up the nomination for a favorite son could be the one that kills Rubio’s campaign.
