Midterms: Puerto Ricans displaced by Hurricane Maria may prove pivotal in Florida elections

Deborah Barfield Berry | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Over 73,000 Puerto Ricans flee to Florida More than 73,000 Puerto Ricans have uprooted their lives and fled to Florida after Hurricane Maria devastated the US territory, and most had no choice.

WASHINGTON – In the year since Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico, political parties, candidates and voting rights groups have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to court residents who fled to the mainland, hoping to register them and get them to the polls.

Though some displaced Puerto Ricans relocated to Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and New York, most settled in Florida, where get-out-the-vote efforts have been intense.

Advocates and national political groups say the tens of thousands of islanders who have settled in Florida are a potentially vital voting bloc in a swing state that's crucial in the midterms and known for razor-thin margins.

“The truth is that Florida elections are so tight that any group could have an impact,” said Dario Moreno, a political scientist at Florida International University. “The question for many of the displaced Puerto Ricans is whether they have organized themselves politically … registered and are ready to vote in November because they’re new residents, they’re trying to put together their lives and all those concerns.

“It’s very hard to tell at this point … what impact (they) will have,” he said.

Some groups aren’t taking the chance. Much is at stake in Florida, where there's a hotly contested Senate race and a closely watched gubernatorial contest.

National Democrats and Republicans hired community organizers and hosted workshops to help evacuees assimilate in their new communities. Republicans created a Puerto Rican Initiative to court them.

Advocate groups also hope to tap the pool of potential new voters.

Faith in Florida, part of a coalition of civic engagement groups, aims to register at least 100,000 Puerto Ricans and leverage their political power in its campaign to restore felons' voting rights.

"It’s a swing state with an opportunity for both parties to kind of capture this group that comes from a very, very high voting culture,'' said Maria Revelles, organizing director for the group. "Puerto Ricans as a voting bloc ... have the potential of transforming the politics of Florida as we know it."

After Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico on Sept. 20, 2017, leading to an official death toll of 2,975, thousands of residents relocated to the mainland, particularly to central Florida, which offered them warm weather and jobs in an established Puerto Rican community.

Advocates said they don’t know exactly how many evacuees are still in Florida – some estimate as many as 200,000 initially made their way to the Sunshine State – but point to registration efforts as a window into the demographic change.

Mi Familia Vota registered 30,000 new voters since April, said Nancy Batista, the group’s state director. Of those, 51 percent are of Puerto Rican descent, compared with the 27 percent who were part of the 33,000 the group registered in 2016.

“We’re seeing presidential election numbers right now, which is unheard of," Batista said.

She said the increased interest in voting has been spurred by local issues, including the lack of affordable housing, and concerns about the slow recovery in Puerto Rico.

"They see this as a way to ... make sure that their voices are heard,” she said.

Hispanics make up a record 16.4 percent of the state's registered voters, an increase from 15.7 percent in 2016, a presidential election year, according to a report released Friday by the Pew Research Center.

The number of Hispanics registering as Democrats increased by about 5 percent since 2016, more than double the number registering as Republicans, the report found.

There are 837,000 Hispanics registered as Democrats in Florida, 527,000 registered as Republicans and 775,000 registered with no party affiliation, Pew found.

Much of the growth in Hispanic voter registration has been in counties with the largest Puerto Rican populations, according to the report.

In July, Progress Puerto Rico in partnership with Vote.org, launched an online voter registration drive focused particularly on residents in Florida.

“We think that we have the ability to make a difference there and we feel very strongly that a lot of the community that’s left the island, but (also) people that have been there for years that have been underrepresented and under engaged, need that," said Isabel Villalon, a co-founder of the Miami-based political action committee.

The group said it has reached more 100,000 people in Florida who viewed videos on its website and clicked on links on its Facebook page.

The challenge to educate voters

In addition to registration, election officials and voting rights experts said there should be a focus on helping displaced Puerto Ricans navigate local election systems.

“There are so many levels of government that we throw at them that they don’t know or don’t understand ... (so) the tendency is for them not to vote,” said Bill Cowles, the Orange County supervisor of elections.

Officials face the challenge of teaching displaced Puerto Ricans different rules, said Rhode Island Secretary of State Nellie Gorbea, co-chair of the Elections Commission for the National Association of Secretaries of States.

For instance, on the islands, a U.S. territory, Election Day is a holiday, so no one has to take off work to vote. Citizens can cast ballots for local and territorial officials but not for U.S. president or a voting member of Congress.

“The presence of Puerto Ricans on the mainland adds that level of complexity," said Gorbea, who grew up in Puerto Rico. “How do we provide civic education to that particular group of U.S. citizens to make sure that they feel that they have that ability to participate during the time that they’re here?"

Florida election officials should be on "high alert" and make sure there are enough bilingual poll workers, materials in Spanish and polling sites, said Myrna Perez, deputy director of the Brennan Center’s Democracy Program. “I think that Florida has a lot of work ahead of itself."

Several Florida counties, including Orange – in the middle of the state and encompassing Orlando – are required under language provisions in the 1965 Voting Rights Act to aid populations whose first language is not English.

A federal judge ruled last month that 32 counties in Florida must provide sample ballots in Spanish.

Cowles said some counties are scrambling to translate the ballots. “There’s a lot of pressure,'' he said.

Democrats target new voters

The Democratic National Committee gave the Florida Democratic Party $100,000 aimed at registering more Puerto Ricans. It also hired organizers and conducted polls.

Democratic Rep. Darren Soto, the first congressman from Florida of Puerto Rican descent, emphasized that get-out-the-vote efforts haven't been limited to evacuees but have targeted hundreds of thousands of Puerto Ricans already in the state.

“Our community has been a big swing vote and important factor in major elections since 2008 when Barack Obama won the presidency," he said. "If we come in, it ends up helping put folks over the top."

Soto said Puerto Ricans could make the difference for Democrats in competitive races, including that of Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum, who could make history as the first black governor in Florida if he defeats Republican Rep. Ron DeSantis.

Soto said they could also help Sen. Bill Nelson, who is facing a challenge from Republican Gov. Rick Scott. Both candidates have courted Puerto Ricans, visiting the island after the hurricane and pledging support for recovery.

This year, Scott picked up support from Jenniffer Gonzalez-Colon, Puerto Rico’s nonvoting congressional representative.

This month, Nelson’s campaign touted the endorsement of Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rossello.

Jennifer Duffy, senior editor at the nonpartisan Cook Political Report, doubts displaced Puerto Ricans will have a huge impact and called Democrats' contention that the group will be a “game changer’’ in statewide races “an overblown premise."

“It’s a low-propensity turnout group, but I’d try too,” she said of registration efforts. “We’re talking about two statewide races that are within the margin of error ... In an election that’s close, it all matters.”

Republicans aim to narrow the margin

Historically, Hispanics in Florida have supported Democrats, including Obama and Hillary Clinton.

But they also have supported Florida Republicans, including former Gov. Jeb Bush and Sen. Marco Rubio. George W. Bush got 40 percent of the vote in his 2004 presidential bid.

“Republicans can make inroads if they work hard … spend resources and really court the community,” Moreno said.

As part of its Puerto Rican Initiative, the Republican National Committee worked with the Florida Republican Party to register voters. The committee hired staffers, hosted workshops in Spanish for volunteers and set up at festivals and school events.

Moreno said Republicans don’t have to get a higher percentage of the Puerto Rican vote but just siphon off support for Democrats.

“It’s not about winning," he said. “It’s lowering the Democratic margin. Florida is so close that if you can get 40 percent instead of 30 percent that could be the margin of victory."

While parties compete, Boricua Vota is hosting parades this month to energize Puerto Rican voters.

“We’re trying to get them to vote as Puerto Ricans, not just as Americans," said Emanuel Pacheco-Rivera, an organizer. “Every Puerto Rican has an extra responsibility considering that there are 3 million Puerto Ricans in Puerto Rico who cannot vote for a voice in Congress, who cannot vote for president, who cannot vote for Senate."

Contributing: Ledyard King and Alan Gomez