Democratic candidates say polls give them an edge.

TALLAHASSEE — On the campaign trail for a U.S. Senate seat, Gov. Rick Scott has been striking a lonely voice when it comes to Florida Republicans wooing Hispanic voters.

At the same time, the Republicans running to replace him as governor, Adam Putnam and Ron DeSantis, are trying to out-Donald Trump each other in their antiimmigration rhetoric, a vital issue to many Hispanics.

Scott has made frequent trips to Puerto Rico and held several meetings in Central Florida to highlight efforts to aid those who fled after Hurricane Maria struck the island in September. In Miami, he has bashed the Venezuelan government and called for more sanctions. His campaign already has released a Spanish-language ad six months before the general election.

“What I think it shows is you have to have the Hispanic vote in Florida to win Florida,” said Lance DeHaven Smith, a Florida State University political science professor. “I don’t know what Putnam and the others will do about it. These are statewide races and there’s a lot of money to be spent [on] advertising and it’s going to be hard to back off of positions that you staked out early.”

The Hispanic vote in Florida in 2016 was 18 percent of the electorate, up from 17 percent in 2012, according to the Pew Research Center.

Agriculture Commissioner Putnam and U.S. Rep. DeSantis praise Scott’s work but aren’t pounding on the same themes, and certainly not in Spanish.

Putnam, a former member of Congress who has supported bills in the past that could lead to legal status for some undocumented immigrants, has worked to thwart attacks from DeSantis that he’s soft on illegal immigration.

“Weak border security endangers the lives of Americans,” Putnam says in one of his first campaign ads. “As governor, we’ll work with President Trump to cut funding for sanctuary cities. We’ll supporter tighter border security and vetting for refugees from Muslim countries.”

The heated rhetoric is even affecting Puerto Ricans, a much-coveted voting group of American citizens not directly affected by the immigration debate. John Ward, a GOP congressional candidate running in the 6th District that includes part of Lake County, said last

week that Puerto Ricans fleeing Hurricane Maria shouldn’t be able to vote in Florida elections.

Putnam, Scott and other Republicans condemned the remarks.

Putnam has also met with Puerto Rican Gov. Ricardo Rossello, and his campaign says it plans more Hispanic voter outreach in the months to come.

But the mixed GOP messages are a reflection of the two races Scott and the gubernatorial candidates are running.

Scott is running against Democratic incumbent Bill Nelson in a general election where moderates are vital, while DeSantis and Putman are locked in a primary closed to non-GOP voters that’s likely to draw many more conservatives.

The juxtaposition worries some in the party such as Rep. Bob Cortes, R-Altamonte Springs, a Putnam supporter who says Hispanics must be courted early.

“They’re probably not going to be a huge factor in the primary, but they’re definitely a huge factor in the general, and don’t wait until after the primary to reach out to them,” said Cortes, who is of Puerto Rican descent.

Democrats note that Scott’s tune has changed now that he’s on the campaign trail without a primary opponent. He won a GOP primary in 2010 against Bill McCollum, an establishment-backed candidate, by pushing for a harsh Arizona law requiring police to check the immigration status of suspects.

He also pushed for a law requiring employers to use E-Verify to ensure undocumented workers weren’t hired.

He dropped efforts to pass those bills shortly after taking office. Since then, Scott has signed into law bills allowing undocumented immigrants brought to the country as children to receive in-state tuition rates and has urged Congress to extend DACA, an Obama-era program allowing children brought into America illegally to be temporarily exempt from deportation.

But Democrats say Scott is “pandering” to Hispanics while signing budgets that take money away from affordable housing programs, which are in dire need as Puerto Ricans who fled Maria nervously await federal housing voucher extensions to stay in hotels and motels.

“The deadlines keep getting kicked down the road, but you’re talking about real families,” said Rep. Amy Mercado, D-Orlando.