FLORIDA — Both Democrats and Republicans continue to make their final pushes to win over Puerto Rican voters in Florida.
What You Need To Know
- Pew study says Puerto Ricans make up 3rd of Hispanic voters in Florida
- Democratic activists in Puerto Rico have called 35,000 people, many in Central Florida
- RELATED: Central Florida’s Puerto Ricans Could Cast Swing State’s Swing Votes
The Pew Research Center reports the Puerto Rican population makes up a third of Hispanic voters in Florida.
In the latest move by the Biden campaign, Florida Democrats are receiving calls from Puerto Ricans on the island to encourage those on the mainland to vote for Joe Biden.
The organization is called Boricuas con Biden (Puerto Ricans for Biden), and the group of more than two dozen Puerto Ricans on the island man phone banks to campaign for Biden.
“It’s personal for us. Most Puerto Ricans did suffer or have family that suffered during Hurricane Maria, and President Donald Trump failed us,” said Steven Ayala-Ramos, who organizes the phone banks.
The group has called more than 35,000 people, with the majority of them in Central Florida.
Ayala-Ramos said although the majority of the callers they speak with plan to vote blue, some of them plan to vote for Trump.
Abraham Lopez with Latinos For Trump credits that to the groundwork the Trump administration has done in Central Florida.
“We’re not taking any vote for granted. We are reaching people right where they’re at,” Lopez said. “The Trump campaign created these Latinos community centers in the barrio, in Orlando, in Kissimmee.”