Outreach groups: Puerto Ricans registered to vote in ‘historical’ numbers
Aggressive efforts in the past year to register potential Puerto Rican voters in Central Florida has yielded an estimated 40,000 newly registered Boricuas this year, according to Hispanic outreach groups that touted the figure as unusually high for midterm-election year.
“It’s surprising to me,” said director Betsy Franceshini of Hispanic Federation in Florida. “I’ve been here for over 30 years and… it’s the first time I’m seeing this enthusiasm.”
Frustrated by media reports they argue don’t paint a full picture, the Latino voter outreach groups — including Respeta Mi Gente, Mi Familia Vota and Hispanic Federation — held a call with members of the media Wednesday to make the case for a surge of Puerto Ricans registering to vote.
“We want to push back against the reports that work is not getting done, that people are not registering,” said Frederick Vélez, an organizer with the non-partisan coalition Respeta Mi Gente. “We can say that the job is being done, that we are registering voters, and we’re having those conversations at the doors.”
Even before the historic Hurricane Maria drove an estimated tens of thousands of Puerto Ricans to settle in Florida, about 1.2 million Puerto Ricans lived in the state. Vélez said that of about 77,000 new Central Florida voters the groups have registered in the past year, about 90 percent of them are Hispanic and close to 50 percent of them are self-identified Puerto Ricans.
The coalition said they have knocked on over 100,000 doors throughout Orange, Osceola, Polk, Seminole, Hillsborough and Lake counties. Because voters can choose to refrain from identifying as Puerto Rican, “it has been really hard to pin down an exact number,” Vélez said.
Franceschini explained that for many Puerto Ricans the groups have spoken with view Florida’s congressional and gubernatorial races as an opportunity to elect representatives that will advocate for the island. Puerto Rico has one nonvoting representative in Congress and residents on the island cannot vote in the presidential election.
“There’s a little bit of intimidation at the beginning, but once we explain… what’s at stake, there’s a lot of enthusiasm,” said Franceschini, who called it a “historical increase” of Puerto Rican voters. “We are seeing that they are paying attention, especially with the experience that they had coming from Puerto Rico, especially with the devastation of Maria… they understand.”
Nancy Batista, Florida director of Mi Familia Vota, said she believed Puerto Ricans are an influential voting bloc among Hispanic voters in the state, and compared them with Republican-leaning Cuban Americans in South Florida.
Tuesday was the last day to register to vote in most of the state, though Gov. Rick Scott's administration extended the deadline for county supervisor of election offices planning to close before the arrival of Hurricane Michael.
Voters in House District 47 likely are familiar with the two candidates running in the Nov. 6 election to represent them.
Stockton Reeves and the Republican Party of Florida have sent numerous mailers attacking Democrat Anna Eskamani for vulgar language and for participating in a “diein” at Publix to protest the grocery chain’s support for state Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam’s gubernatorial bid.
Meanwhile, Democrats and Eskamani have dinged Reeves as “another political insider” who is “bankrolled” by Big Sugar and fossil-fuel companies.
The district would be a key pickup in for Democrats in Tallahassee, where they’re vastly outnumbered by Republicans. The district covers downtown Orlando, parts of Winter Park plus Conway, Belle Isle and Holden Heights.
As of Aug. 30, Democrats hold a 5-point edge in registered voters — an advantage of about 6,500 voters — while 28 percent of voters are registered under no party affiliation. boosting teacher pay.
She also said she supports school choice, without “leaving behind parents who choose public education.”
Reeves agreed teachers should receive higher base pay and would be OK with using performance or merit pay as a supplement.
Also on schools, Reeves said the state needs to prioritize vocational schools to help non-college bound students find jobs, while Eskamani argued for investments toward school safety without arming teachers.
Additional training for law-enforcement officials would reduce civilian casualties and shootings as well as improve public safety, Reeves said. He wants the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to create super regional training centers to allow smaller agencies to send officers for training they may not normally be able to afford.
With Florida lagging behind in mental-health funding, Eskamani said there’s a major need for more dollars and vowed to co-sponsor legislation proposed by state Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith, D-Orlando, to ban assault weapons.
Reeves said he’d support universal background checks but also said law-enforcement agencies need to bridge communication gaps to address threats, and FDLE also needs a new division with psychologists and psychiatrists to examine people who may be threats.
Eskamani said Republican officials have misused funds set aside by voters in a ballot amendment to protect the environment and wants the state Department of Environmental Protection to ramp up efforts against polluters. She said her campaign hasn’t taken money from Big Sugar or fossil-fuel companies.
Reeves said his life experiences give him a broader platform than Eskamani, including talking about prison and tax reforms, environmental issues and public safety.
However, Eskamani charged Reeves offers “empty rhetoric” on the environment and said his “entire campaign seems more about attacking me” than talking about issues.
She supports an assault weapons and high-capacity magazine ban and has knocked Reeves for his ‘A’ grade from the National Rifle Association.