Sen. Marco Rubio is campaigning in Florida Monday, trying to persuade voters in his home state to stand by him in Tuesday’s primary in an attempt to stem the tide of primary wins by Republican front-runner Donald Trump.
Rubio has some ground to cover, despite his promises to win the state and its 99 delegates. According to a Quinnipiac poll, Trump is up by more than 20 points over the Florida senator.
According to Rubio, the polling is not accurate and on Sunday he told George Stephanopoulos on "This Week" that “some pollster will have to explain” why they got his numbers in Florida so wrong after he wins the state.
Rubio points to his support in the Hispanic community, especially Cuban immigrants like his parents. According to a story from Politico, 62 percent of the Hispanic voters likely to participate in the Florida Republican primary say they will vote for Rubio.
The same poll holds out more hope for the chance that Oho Gov. John Kasich can beat Trump in his state. The Quinnipiac poll has the two in a dead heat – 36 percent each – in the Ohio Republican primary.
Five states and a U.S. commonwealth will vote Tuesday – Ohio, Florida, North Carolina, Illinois, Missouri and the Northern Mariana Islands. The Mariana Islands vote is a Republican vote only.
Trump’s plans to campaign in Illinois were derailed Friday when protests broke out at his rally and he ended up canceling his event. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz has four rallies planned for Illinois Monday.
Trump has been facing increasing calls to dial-back the rhetoric often heard in his speeches. In response, Trump has he is only saying what Americans want to but don’t have a forum for.
What happens Tuesday?
Voters in some of the states with the largest Republican and Democrat delegate count will be going to the polls Tuesday.
For the Republicans, there are 367 delegates at stake. Here’s the breakdown:
Florida primary: 99 delegates
Illinois primary: 69 delegates
Missouri primary: 52 delegates
North Carolina primary: 72 delegates
Northern Mariana Islands caucuses: 9 delegates
Ohio primary: 66 delegates
>> How many delegates does Donald Trump have?
There are 780 Democratic delegates at stake. Here’s the breakdown:
Florida: 246 delegates
Illinois: 182 Democratic delegates
Missouri: 71 delegates
North Carolina: 122 delegates
Ohio: 159 delegates
>>What is a superdelegate, and what do they do?
When do polls open/close?
Florida – 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. (Parts of Florida are in the Eastern Time zone and parts are in the Central time zone)
Illinois – 6 a.m. until 7 p.m. (CT)
Missouri – 6 a.m. until 7 p.m. (CT)
North Carolina – 6:30 a.m. – 7:30 pm. (ET)
Ohio – 6:30 a.m. until 7:30 (ET)
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