US Politics / Mike Robb / 30 January 2008 / Leave a comment

John McCain beat Mitt Romney by five points while Giuliani finished a weak third

Following his victory in the Florida Primary John McCain is the overwhelming 83 per cent [1.2] favourite on Betfair to be the Republican nominee for President. Rudy Giuliani's poor third place finish with 15% of the vote largely fuelled this surge in support for the frontrunner. Giuliani is now just a 0.4% chance of securing the nomination at [260.0] and is largely expected to drop out and endorse McCain later today.

This time yesterday, before the Florida polls opened, McCain was on 55% (4-5) on Betfair.

Betfair customers have emphatically shown who they think will go on to win the Republican nomination. The markets show much less support for Mitt Romney and with Super Tuesday just six days away he has a lot of work to do if he is to come from behind and win.

The Democratic race was largely a non-event as all the main candidates agreed not to actively campaign in the state. Nevertheless, Hillary Clinton won the state by 50% of the vote to 33% for Obama. John Edwards finished third with 14%.

It is all still to play for in the Democratic race and all eyes will be on Super Tuesday next week. Hillary Clinton remains the [1.56] favourite with Barack Obama in second place on [2.86].

Visit the new Betfair Politics Zone launched for Super Tuesday: http://politics.betfair.com

Tags: Florida Primary, John McCain, politics betting, presidential primaries, Rudy Giuliani, Super Tuesday