Republicans

Florida Republicans have been courting Hispanic voters for decades, and they’ve stuck with it.

“They start earlier. They have candidates in place, and they don’t take their constituents for granted, which Democrats have historically done, especially Hispanics,” Gamarra said.

He said Democrats neglected the kind of work they needed to do in Hispanic communities, assuming that most Cuban-Americans would vote Republican and that Democrats would get some share of that vote, and would do well with other Puerto Ricans and people from other countries.

“The Republicans didn’t do that. The Republicans targeted everybody,” Gamarra said.

Republicans have contrasted themselves with the Democrats, whom they label as communists or socialists, a compelling message to communities that include many people who fled repressive regimes in places such as Cuba and Venezuela.

Gamarra said the Republican messaging on communism and Democrats isn’t accurate, but “it’s worked extraordinarily well.”

Democrats haven’t figured out an effective counter-messaging strategy. Barrero said he’s not getting tangled in back and forth on those subjects “because that keeps the conversion alive. It’s a falsehood.”

“The Democratic Hispanic Caucus does not play WhacA-Mole. If the Republicans throw something at us, we don’t respond. We just work, we stay in our lane, we support the community,” Barrero said. “Look at (our) social media. You’ll not find any Republican mentioned, criticized.” Instead it’s messages focused on positives about Hispanic Democratic candidates.

Aside from the communist/socialist labeling, Diaz said the Republican playbook offers lessons for the Democrats.

“We just have to grow it little by little, just the way the Republicans grew their market share in Miami. If you want a market, you have to target it, you have to invest in it, you have to be there not just four months before an election. You have to do it every single day,” she said.

“Republicans have been doing this since (President Ronald) Reagan” in the 1980s, she said. “They have very good people that work on their side, that are dedicated to the Hispanic community. I think we finally woke up.”

Republicans aren’t letting up.

Jaime Florez, the Miamibased Hispanic Communications Director for the Republican National Committee, said in a video posted online in February that “Hispanics are very disappointed with the Democrats that have taken them for granted for way too long and have made promises that they never fulfilled. … So Hispanics are becoming more and more Republicans, and we’re working on that.”

Chris Marino, chair of the Broward Republican Party, said via email the Hispanic community “has now recognized that the Democratic Party has failed them continuously.”

“A definitive tide is turning for the Republican party, not because of demagogy or rhetoric, but because of the lack of leadership and results that benefit Latinos and Hispanics in Broward County and the rest of Florida,” Marino said.