Florida was the only state in which a majority of Hispanic voters supported President-elect Donald Trump’s return to the White House.
That is according to polling released Tuesday by UnidosUS, America’s largest Latino civil rights organization. UnidosUS polled more than 3,700 Latinos nationwide, including over 500 in Florida.
Inflation, jobs, housing affordability as well as health care costs were the top issues for Latino voters nationwide and in Florida.
Clarissa Martínez de Castro is vice president of the Latino Vote Initiative. She says a lack of voter outreach and engagement from Democrats played a role in Florida’s Latinos trending toward Trump.
“Not only do you have a population that has historically trended more pro-Republican, the Cuban population.
But, even as the community has diversified in Florida, you have also seen a permanent campaign from the Republican side unmatched by the Democratic side,” she said.
Hispanic voters in Duval
33% of registered Hispanic voters in Duval County are Democrats, while only 28% are Republicans. Three hundred forty-four more Hispanic voters in the area are not registered with either party.
During the campaign season, UnidosUS worked with the First Coast Hispanic Chamber of Commerce to get some of the 40,000 Hispanic voters to go to the polls in 2024.
It was reported that 7% of the voters in Duval County this year were Hispanic. As more Hispanic people move to Northeast Florida, that number is likely to go up before the 2026 gubernatorial election.