By BIANCA LOPEZ

News Editor

For the majority of students, the 2016 election marks the first time they have had the opportunity to cast a presidential ballot. In Florida, today’s primaries brought the country one step closer to narrowing down the candidates for November’s election. Left standing at the end of the night were winners Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.

As of the latest count (with 81% reporting), Trump won with 45.7% of the Republican votes and Clinton won with 64.5% of the Democratic votes.

“Many people are beginning to realize that Trump really wants to make our country great again and that he is working for us,” said Kristian Givens, sophomore education major. “Cruz and Rubio are part of the problem in Washington and as more people begin to realize this, they turn to Trump.”

Florida and Ohio were marked as especially crucial to this election, seeing as they are both winner-take-all states. “Winner-take-all” means that all 99 of Florida’s Republican delegates will back the winner from the primary, i.e. Trump. The 214 Democratic delegates, however, are distributed proportionally, with (at 81% reporting) Clinton winning 119 and Bernie Sanders receiving 49.

Marco Rubio, a Florida native, backed out of the race following his defeat. Rubio came in second to Trump for the Republican votes at 27.1%, however due to the winner-take-all distribution, he did not receive any delegates.

“[Rubio dropping out] makes me sad because he was my favorite and he’s Hispanic and that’s a demographic we haven’t explored in the presidency,” said Anna Trattner, a sophomore dance and psychology double major.

In Ohio, Kasich is leading with 43.3% of the Republican votes, while Trump follows with 34.4%. Clinton also won in Ohio with 64.8% of the Democratic votes.

–UPDATE AS OF 10:14PM–

In Florida at 98%, Trump wins with 45.7% of the Republican vote and Clinton wins with 64.5%. Clinton now gets 130 delegates and Sanders receives 63.