(ABC News Photo Illustration)
Conservatives comprised 61 percent of the GOP electorate, slightly higher than previous primaries, and they clearly preferred Romney, by 37 to 29 percent. But moderates and liberals supported McCain by a 2-1 over Romney.
Of the 37 percent of voters looking for a candidate who "shares my values," 35 percent voted for Romney – nearly double those for McCain. McCain had a 10-point edge among voters looking for a candidate with the right experience.
Romney had campaigned to make the economy the top issue in this race. The economy was the top concern for 45 percent of Florida's Republican primary voters. But McCain edged out Romney among economy voters, 40-32 percent.
McCain fought to convince voters national security was the top issue and he won the 14 percent who said the war in Iraq was their top issue by 26 points (45 vs. 19 percent for Romney). But Giuliani, otherwise an afterthought for most voters, lost to both Romney and McCain among "terrorism" voters, the signature issue of his entire campaign.
Helping to balance his shortcomings among other issues, Romney won those 16 percent who put a priority on illegal immigration by a wide margin, 43-25 percent over McCain.
Four in 10 Republican primary voters said most illegal immigrants should be deported to the country they came from, while 58 percent said they should be allowed to stay as temporary workers or offered a chance to apply for citizenship. Romney easily won among those who said illegal immigrants should be deported to their home country (38-26 percent vs. McCain), while McCain won handily among those who favor giving illegal immigrants a chance at citizenship (46 -24 percent vs. Romney).
More than two-thirds have a positive evaluation of the Bush administration, and among these voters Romney beat McCain by 4 points, 35-31 percent. Among the third who have negative feelings toward the Bush administration, McCain had a 22-point edge over Romney, 45-23 percent.
More than four-in-ten said the endorsement of the state's popular Gov. Charlie Crist was important in their vote, and McCain took a majority of these voters, 54 percent vs. 21 percent for Romney. Among those saying the endorsement wasn't important, Romney won 40 percent of their votes, beating McCain by 18 points.
Religion has played an important part in Republican primaries and it was evident again in Florida. About four in 10 voters identified themselves as evangelical Christians and they split their vote evenly between McCain at 30 percent and Romney and Huckabee at 29 percent. Romney lost narrowly to McCain among the non-evangelicals by 38 to 34 percent.
Do you have more information about this topic? If so, please click here to contact the editors of ABC News.
