Miami is one of the international cities in the country.
That city has become a canary in the coal mine for Democrats.
And one trend from Miami, Florida was scary news for Kamala Harris that she never expected.
Hispanic voters are becoming more Republican in Miami, Florida
A political shift has been underway with more Hispanic voters supporting Republicans since the 2016 Election.
Miami-Dade County, which is nearly 70% Hispanic, is a microcosm of this trend.
Former President Donald Trump lost the county by 290,000 votes in the 2016 Election, but that margin shrank to 85,000 votes in the 2020 Election against President Joe Biden.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis won Miami-Dade County in his re-election campaign during the 2022 Midterm Elections after he lost there in 2018.
He was the first Republican Governor to win the county since Jeb Bush in the 2002 Election.
Miami-Dade County is the most populous county in the state and the type of large urban county that Republicans have struggled with in this century.
The trend there is that it is becoming increasingly Republican.
Cuban Americans in Miami, who comprise most of the Hispanic population in the county, are driving the rightward shift.
The Cuban Research Institute at Florida International University found that only 35% of Cubans supported Trump in 2016.
Now, 68% of Cubans support him against Vice President Kamala Harris.
“Most of the Cuban Americans in the United States live in Florida, and most of the Cuban Americans in Florida reside in the South Florida region,” Florida International University stated. “As a result, Cuban Americans make up a minuscule percentage of the national population but dominate the demographic landscape of Miami-Dade County. Their overwhelming presence in Florida makes their political involvement critically important, particularly during presidential election years.”
Florida Hispanics see opportunity with the Republican Party
State Representative Daniel Perez (R-FL), the son of Cuban immigrants, said that Hispanic voters in Miami see the Republican Party as a better fit for their values.
“They understand that America is the land of the free and opportunity,” Perez said. “Many Hispanic voters have firsthand experience with the opposite—oppressive governments that drive people out in search of a better life. They’re seeing the Republican Party as the one that aligns with those values.”
Miami is home to Cubans, Venezuelans, Nicaraguans, and others who fled their native countries to escape repression by brutal socialist dictatorships.
Democrats have embraced socialism in the Trump era and promoted socialists like Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT).
The Republican establishment and Democrats predicted that Trump would drive Hispanic voters out of the GOP because of his tough border security policies.
But the opposite happened.
Miami Republican Mayor Francis Suarez said that border security was helping Republicans with Hispanic voters.
“I think Hispanics very much care about the border. In fact, I saw a recent poll that showed over 80% of Hispanics are worried about border security,” Suarez told CNN. “That impacts their quality of life. As a mayor, and even as we’ve seen Democratic mayors, have criticized the current administration’s border policy and the porousness of the border policy.”
Hispanic voters becoming more Republican is unwelcome news for Democrats moving forward.
DeSantis Daily will keep you up-to-date on any new developments in this story.
