Biden plans Broward campaign swing, with stops that emphasize seniors and Black voters.
Campaign stops emphasize seniors and Black voters
Joe Biden plans to campaign on Tuesday in Broward County, where he’ll seek votes of constituencies critically important to any Democratic candidate who wants to win statewide in Florida.
Biden’s campaign said Sunday the Democratic nomineewould be inPembroke Pines and Miramar.
In Pembroke Pines, he’ll speak about his “vision for older Americans.” Later, he’ll be in Miramar to encourage people “to make a plan to vote.” Miramar has a large Black population, and Biden is likely to focus on African American and Caribbean American voters.
Miramar, the state’s 13th largest city, is home to one of the largest populations of Jamaican Americans in the United States. The father of Biden’s running mate, U.S. Sen. KamalaHarris, isJamaican American.
Tuesday’s visit is Biden’s third to the state during a campaign that’s been upended by the coronavirus pandemic, and, like the coming visit, he’s used previous trips to stoke support in important voting blocs.
On Oct. 5, he visited Little Haiti and Little Havana. On Sept. 15, he held a Hispanic Heritage month in Kissimmee, and hosted a veterans roundtable in Tampa.
Broward is home to Florida’s largest pool of Democratic voters. It’s a county that always votes overwhelming Democratic in statewide elections, but the party has often struggled to
get turnout in Broward up to the levels seen in other parts of the state.
Broward is familiar territory for the Democratic nominee. During his career in the U.S. Senate and as vice president, he made multiple visits to the county — speaking at political dinners, raising campaign money and campaigning in retiree heavy condominium communities.
In 2012, the then-vice president delivered the commencement address to the graduating class of Weston’s Cypress Bay High School, one of only threecommencement addresses he gave that spring.
He did so at the request of the Weston high school’s member of Congress, U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz. She’s a longtime political supporter of the former vice president, dating back to her days as a student at the University of Florida, when she supported his first campaign for president — in 1988. Pembroke Pines, the site of Tuesday’s first stop, is in Wasserman Schultz’s district.
South Florida campaigning had seemed likely this week, since Miami was the site of the canceled presidential debate that was to be held onThursday. Candidate travel for a debate is typically accompanied by other campaign appearances. With the debate off, the travel is coming with Trump in Sanford on Monday and Biden in Broward on Tuesday.
The state, which awards 29 electoral votes out of the 270 needed to win the presidency, is the nation’s largest presidential battleground.
Florida has a history of close statewide elections — President Donald Trump finished 1.2 percentage points ahead of Hillary Clinton in2016. Polling showsthe 2020 campaign continuing the pattern. Polling shows the 2020 campaign continuing the pattern. The FiveThirtyEight average of Florida polls shows Biden with 49% to 44.6% for Trump.