The voters of “Rubio Country” — actually, it’s more like “Rubio Suburbs” — provided what many in the GOP had hoped would be the face of the party in 2016: college-educated thirtysomethings and high earners who consider themselves “somewhat” rather than “very” conservative, according to polls. They are less angry with the workings of government and the economy. And in some states they include the nonwhite voters the GOP has for years tried but largely failed to reach.

They are voters like Marietta, Ga., attorney Joel Pugh. “To be successful and to have a chance to win a national election, we have to be inclusive of all,” he said, his school-age daughter, Caroline, at his side during a Rubio event in Kennesaw, near a Civil War battlefield just outside Atlanta. “He is the new generation. He has lived the American dream — it’s still alive and well.”

In selected counties where such voters live, Rubio has trounced Trump, sometimes winning more than 40% of the vote.

But overall, the effort fell short. Despite pouring resources into the suburbs around Des Moines; Charleston, S.C.; Atlanta; and northern Virginia outside Washington, Rubio has won only Minnesota and Puerto Rico. His delegate count is well below half that of Trump.