It’s 7:00 PM EST– The polls are closed in Florida…
…Except in the panhandle.
This Florida website HERE has the live election results, via Ace.
A shortage of operating voter-identification machines left hundreds of voters waiting up to two hours to cast ballots at Century Village in Pembroke Pines. (Miami Herald)
The Orlando Sentinel reports problems at the polls.
The Campaign Spot has first wave of exit poll numbers, including absentees: McCain 34.3 percent, Romney 32.6 percent, Giuliani 15.3 percent, Huckabee 12 percent.
Michelle Malkin has been liveblogging the Florida primary news all day.
Stephen Green is blogging the results at Pajamas.
UPDATE: (6:50 PM CST)
McCain: 33.9%
Romney: 33.4%
Giuliani: 14.1%
Huckabee: 13.7%
UPDATE: (6:57 PM CST) FOX News with 15% reporting:
McCain: 34%
Romney: 30%
Giuliani: 17%
Huckabee: 13%
UPDATE: Independents are voting for McCain- Conservatives are voting for Romney. Evangelicals voted for Romney.
McCain wins on the economy??? Rudy (after turning NYC around) gets only 10% on the economy???
UPDATE: (7:11 PM CST)
McCain: 33.5%
Romney: 33.3%
Giuliani: 14.5%
Huckabee: 13.7%
Absentee voting may make up one-third of the vote.
UPDATE: (7:30 PM CST) FOX News with 34% reporting:
McCain: 34%
Romney: 32%
Giuliani: 16%
Huckabee: 13%
Cliff May added this at The Corner:
I prefer Romney. And the fact that he’s wielded executive power I see as a distinct plus. Also, I’m by no means convinced that Romney can not win a national election (despite what the polls are showing at this moment).
But if the process produces McCain as the candidate, I’m not about to make the perfect the enemy of the better. We’re choosing a war-time leader here. And we’re doing it at a time when a largely anti-war and delusional Left holds power in Congress, in most government bureaucracies, in the governors’ mansions, in most state legislatures, in the news media, in Hollywood, in the union halls and in the Education Establishment. Between a flawed conservative and a dyed-in-the-wool liberal beholden to George Soros, MoveOn.org and the Daily Kos, it should not be a tough call.
UPDATE: TIME says Rudy will endorse John McCain??
UPDATE: (8:10 PM CST) FOX News just announced: McCain is the winner in Florida!
UPDATE: The AP quotes McCain, via Michelle Malkin:
“It shows one thing. I’m the conservative leader who can unite the party,” the Arizona senator said in a brief interview with The Associated Press.
He’s locked up another race with a 35% win.
…Not quite a conservative avalanche.
UPDATE: Rudy, we hardly knew ya.
Rudy is going over his 12 point plan- All good points but too much to remember. It’s hard to make a jingle out of 12 points.
UPDATE: Is McCain “the conservative leader to unite the party” or “is conservatism dead?” (Amnesty, Gang of 14, “No” to tax cuts…)
