Outrage over Trump, Maria sparks protest

Puerto Ricans upset over their treatment after Hurricane Maria are hoping to send a message in Florida’s upcoming midterm elections.

Activists are registering voters, and about 2,000 Puerto Ricans are expected to rally this weekend near President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach to mark the hurricane’s one-year anniversary.

Anger is simmering over Trump’s playful toss of paper towels while visiting the island after the storm and his tweets questioning the hurricane’s death toll, said Marcos Vilar, who is helping to organize the Mar-aLago protest event.

“There is a concern among all sectors of Puerto Rican society that we have been treated as secondclass citizens,” said Vilar, executive director of the civic engagement group Alianza for Progress.

Speculation has abounded that the migration of Puerto Ricans to Florida after Maria could

push Florida solidly into the column of blue states. Candidates on both sides of the aisle are courting the Puerto Rican vote.

Florida’s Puerto Rican population has now likely surpassed the state’s Cuban-American population and exceeds New York’s Puerto Rican population, said Luis Martinez-Fernandez, a professor at the University of Central Florida who specializes in Latin American history.

While Puerto Rican voters have skewed Democratic in the past, animosity toward Trump is pushing them more solidly into the Democratic fold, he said.

“I have not seen — with the exception of a natural disaster — anything that brings the Puerto Rican people together like their outrage about the treatment, and that is a new thing,” Martinez-Fernandez said.

Most of the more than 1.1 million Puerto Ricans living in Florida are concentrated in the Orlando area along the state’s I-4 corridor. But census figures show South Florida is also home to a sizable Puerto Rican population with more than 223,000 Puerto Ricans living in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties.

But whether Puerto Rican voters will swing the midterm elections remains to be seen, Vilar said. Many of the new arrivals lost everything, and they are too busy looking for work and a place to live to get politically involved, he said.

“We see a large sector who are excited to vote, and there are also others who are too busy with settling in and getting their lives together,” Vilar said.

State registration rolls don’t show a dramatic spike in the number of Hispanic voters. The number of registered Hispanic voters increased by about 108,000 from the 2016 presidential election to the Aug. 28 primary. The state’s 2.1 million registered Hispanic voters make up about 16.4 percent of the electorate, up from 15.7 percent two years ago.

Historically, Puerto Ricans have not had a large turnout in elections, particularly in midterm contests, said Kevin Wagner, a political scientist at Florida Atlantic University.

“It is undoubtedly true that there are more Puerto Ricans in Florida,” he said. “The question is: Are they going to register to vote and in what numbers are they going to turn out?”

An analysis by University of Florida political scientist Daniel Smith found that 62 percent of registered Puerto Rican voters cast ballots in the 2016 presidential election, much lower than 75 percent turnout for Cubanborn voters.

Steve Schale, a Democratic strategist who was state director of Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign in Florida, said the idea that Hurricane Maria migration is going to determine the outcome of the midterm election and turn Florida blue is probably overstated.

But, he said, anger about the handling of Maria could Puerto Ricans already here to vote in larger numbers than they normally do in midterm elections.

“The Puerto Rican vote in general this year is really important and probably more important because of Maria,” Schale said.

The University of Florida’s Bureau of Economic and Business Research now estimates about 30,000 to 50,000 Puerto Ricans moved to Florida as a result of Maria. Earlier estimates were as high as 300,000.

Groups are working hard to sign up new arrivals to Florida. Mi Familia Vota, a civic engagement organization, met its goal to register 25,000 voters a month early, said Soraya Marquez, Florida state coordinator.

Trump’s tweet Sept. 13 — when he wrote that 3,000 people “did not die” in the hurricanes that hit Puerto Rico — has fanned resentment in the Puerto Rican community, Vilar said.

The Palm Beach event aims to remember those lost lives while shining a light on Puerto Ricans suffering on the island and the mainland. A caravan will circle Mar-aLago, followed by a rally and interfaith vigil Saturday afternoon at the Meyer Amphitheatre in West Palm Beach. A candlelight vigil is planned for Thursday night near Trump Tower in New York.

Democrats vying for Florida’s Puerto Rican votes have sought to tie Republican candidates to Trump, while Republicans have visited the island and sought to distinguish themselves from the president on the issue.

Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, who is facing a tough re-election challenge from Gov. Rick Scott, released a Spanish languagead calling Scott and Trump — “muy buenos amigos” (very good friends).

Scott is making his eighth visit to Puerto Rico this week since the storm struck. He released his own Spanish-language ad saying, “When I don’t agree with what President Trump does or says, I’ve said it. My only commitment is with you.”

Republican gubernatori- al candidate Ron DeSantis broke ranks with Trump over his tweets questioning the Puerto Rican death toll, saying that he did not think the numbers had been inflated. DeSantis, who recently resigned his seat in Congress to focus on his bid for governor, is a close Trump ally, and the president’s endorsement helped to propel him to victory in the GOP primary.

Citing an unnamed White House source, Politico reported this week that DeSantis’ statement has strained his relationship with Trump, who was angry about what he perceived as disloyalty from DeSantis.

Many Puerto Rican voters will have the president’s tweets on their mind when they enter ballot box Nov. 6, Vilar said.

“It is insulting,” he said. “It is callous. It is completely lacking of any moral grounding. It is an insult to the people who have suffered.”