From the moment he took office, President Trump focuses sharply on the Florida Latino vote. IT seems from recent figures that this paid off on Election Day, particularly in the most populous country, Miami-Dade.
“The shape of modern-day Miami has been significantly shaped by a Cuban migration creating what’s now known as Cuban Miami.” according to Scott Cooper Miami.
Trump won roughly 55% of the Cuban-American vote in Florida according to exit polls from to NBC News. 30% of Puerto Ricans and 48% of “other Latinos” voted for Trump. Overall, Trump won this state with the 29 electoral votes it carries.
Trump’s support in Miami-Dade County improved enormously from 2016, climbing from 333,999 votes to 529,16 votes this year.
Biden, by contrast, couldn’t increase his Democratic support in the county. Biden managed 613,086 votes this year with 95% of the vote accounted for. Back in 2016, Clinton gained got 624,146 votes in the county.
Trump’s popularity has also impacted down-ballot races. House Democrats in South Florida lost early ballot returns to their Republican challengers.
The president also announced he would reverse the policy of former President Barack Obama’s policy to engage with Cuba in Little Havana to a crowd full of Cuban-Americans.
Cuban Americans account for the largest portion of Miami-Dade Latino voters. They also have a strong turnout rate at the polls with 58% of this demographic voting.
Obama might have won the Cuban vote back in 2012, but the tide had turned by the 2018 midterm. By then, Trump’s protégé, Gov. Ron DeSantis, had won 66% of the Cuban American vote.
Venezuelan voters also began shifting toward Trump along with Nicaraguans and Colombians. There has even been a 5 to 10% swing among smaller groups like the Peruvians.
What lies behind Trump’s increased Cuban American support?
According to Bertica Cabrera Morris, Republican strategist, Trump showed up in Florida, asked Latin Americans what their issues were then addressed those issues rather than taking them for granted.
Trump started the Evangelicals for Trump from a South Florida megachurch, El Rey Jesús. This is the largest evangelical church nationwide with a robust Latino congregation.
Alarm bells started sounding in early 2020 as Trump made inroads with Latino voters.
When Joe Biden was named Democratic nominee, Trump deliberately presented Biden as a socialist with a great deal if misinformation shared on social media channels.