Exit poll: Trump wins broad support in Florida

WASHINGTON -- Donald Trump claimed Florida, the biggest delegate haul of Tuesday night's five Republican primary elections, by sweeping nearly all categories of voters -- men and women, rich and poor, the highly educated and those without college degrees.

Trump's attraction of Florida's educated Republican voters notably broke from the trends seen in other states where Trump did better with white, less-educated voters.

On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton beat Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders in Florida, North Carolina and Ohio, largely thanks to widespread support from black voters.

According to early results of exit polls conducted for The Associated Press and television networks by Edison Research, Clinton's policies were seen as more realistic, while voters in two states where Sanders was running strong found him more inspiring than the former secretary of state.

Ohio Gov. John Kasich won his home state by drawing Republican voters looking for an experienced candidate. He also attracted more moderate Republicans and those who have college degrees.

Early exit polls in Florida indicate Trump won about half of whites and nearly 3 in 10 Hispanics. He was backed by most voters without a college degree, and about 4 in 10 of those with a college diploma.

Most GOP voters in Florida are looking for a political outsider, and three-quarters voted for Trump. Four in 10 are angry with Washington, and 6 in 10 of them prefer Trump.

Trump was backed by nearly two-thirds of those who would like to see undocumented immigrants deported; those who want to give workers without documentation a chance to apply for legal status divided their votes closely between the two.

In Illinois, Missouri and Ohio, Clinton was supported by about two-thirds of black voters, similar to her level of support among black voters in Michigan last week, where her margin among the key group was not enough to propel her to victory.

In Florida and North Carolina about 8 in 10 black voters supported her, which is closer to her average in previous states.

She also was supported by about 7 in 10 Hispanic voters in Florida.

In each of the three states Clinton won, more than three-quarters of voters said her policies are realistic.

In Missouri and Illinois, two-thirds of voters say Sanders' ideas are realistic. But even in Missouri and Illinois, voters were slightly more likely to call Clinton's policies realistic, with more than 7 in 10 voters saying that.

But Sanders appeared to attract voters looking for inspiration.

More than half of Democratic primary voters in Illinois and Missouri say Sanders inspires them about the future of the country. In both states, about 4 in 10 said Clinton inspires them.

Voters in the Democratic primaries in Illinois and Missouri are divided over whether international trade costs the U.S. jobs. The voters who say trade takes jobs from Americans tend to back Sanders; those who consider trade beneficial generally support Clinton.

As seen in earlier primaries, voters who made up their minds close to the primary were less inclined to support Trump. Of the Republicans in Ohio who decided in the last week, more than half preferred Kasich.

The surveys were conducted for The Associated Press and television networks by Edison Research as voters left their polling places at 30 to 40 randomly selected sites in five states holding primary elections Tuesday.

Preliminary results include interviews with 663 to 1,710 Democratic primary voters and 718 to 2,255 Republican primary voters in each state. In Florida, North Carolina and Ohio, the results also include telephone interviews with early and absentee voters.

The results among all those voting in each contest have a margin of sampling error ranging of either plus or minus 4 percentage points or plus or minus 5 percentage points.