Exit poll data shows strong Tea Party support among voters

Exit poll data from voters in the Florida primary Tuesday shows support for the Tea Party is strong here, as it was in South Carolina.

About two-thirds of primary voters in Florida say they support the Tea Party, and nearly 4 in 10 say they strongly support the Tea Party. About half of primary voters in New Hampshire were Tea Party supporters, according to a report on the New York Times web site on the exit poll information.

According to the Times, the data also found:

“Florida’s primary voters are somewhat more conservative than in 2008, but are more moderate than Iowa and South Carolina.

About 4 out of every 10 Republican primary voters cited campaign advertising as an important factor in their decision, even though most of it was negative.

Florida has fewer evangelical Christian voters than some earlier states, which were an important group for Mr. Gingrich’s South Carolina win, and for Rick Santorum’s slim victory in Iowa.

Only about one-fourth of the G.O.P. primary voters said they made their decision within the last few days. By contrast, a majority of voters in the South Carolina primary and near majority in Iowa and New Hampshire decided in the last few days before their contest.

Nearly 1 in 7 primary Republican voters are Hispanic. This year, 15 percent of voters described themselves as Hispanic. By contrast, the percentage was just 5 percent in the Republican primary in 1988.

In a state with a high immigrant population (nearly 9 percent of Floridians are noncitizens), fewer than 1 of 5 primary voters in Florida cites illegal immigration as the most important issue in their vote.

Nearly two-thirds of Florida’s G.O.P. voters say they believe abortion should be illegal in either most cases or all cases.

According to early exit polls, 35 percent of Florida voters said they made $50,000 or less in 2012. That compares to 29 percent in 2008.

More than half say Mr. Romney is the most electable candidate, far ahead of the number that say Mr. Gingrich is. But fewer, about a third, say Mr. Romney is the most empathetic candidate, compared with about a quarter who instead cite Mr. Gingrich. ”

To see the full report, click here.