A Puerto Rican flag flies above an American one. 2016ers tiptoe around Puerto Rico's debt bomb

With Puerto Rico asking the U.S. federal government for a lifeline to rescue it from crushing debt, some 2016 candidates see an opportunity – Florida votes.

Jeb Bush was first out of the gates. Back in April, as the island territory started careening toward a breaking point, he said Puerto Rico’s public agencies should be able to file for bankruptcy.


But late last month, Puerto Rico Gov. Alejandro García Padilla announced that the commonwealth could not pay back its roughly $72 billion in debts, lending the question new urgency.

Democrats have urged Washington to help. On Tuesday, frontrunner Hillary Clinton called on Congress to allow Puerto Rico to restructure its debts under Chapter 9 of the Bankruptcy Code, the first step in what she called a “multifaceted” approach. Her top rival for the Democratic nomination, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, followed suit a few hours later. Former Maryland governor Martin O’Malley had previously pressed President Barack Obama and Congress “to act to ensure that Puerto Rico is able to negotiate with its creditors.”

But the rest of the 2016 field, including the other four senators running for president, has been conspicuously slower to take a position. Sens. Ted Cruz, Lindsey Graham, Rand Paul did not respond to questions on the issue. Sen. Marco Rubio’s office said the Florida senator was still looking into it.

None were willing to throw their support behind a bill being offered up by Sens. Charles Schumer and Richard Blumenthal that would give Puerto Rico the same bankruptcy protection as municipalities across the rest of the United States.

Puerto Rico’s debt crisis has the potential to affect the 2016 race — and nowhere more so than in Florida, with its growing Puerto Rican population of about 1 million people, a key constituency in a purple state with 29 electoral votes.

“This is a driver for their vote,” said Resident Commissioner Pedro Pierluisi, Puerto Rico’s representative on Capitol Hill. “Our votes are swing votes.”

In the last two presidential elections, Puerto Rican votes boosted Obama in Florida, but could easily help Republicans this time around, former Puerto Rican governor Luis Fortuno said.

“They can sway,” Fortuno, a conservative, said. “I believe other Republicans that want to compete effectively ought to be thinking about this, and they probably have to say something about it.”

“I don’t see how you get through the Florida primary without being asked,” said Douglas Holtz-Eakin, a former top economic adviser for Sen. John McCain’s 2008 presidential bid.

But calling for federal intervention is not without political risks: No Republican presidential candidate wants to be tarred as pro-bailout.

While bankruptcy protection would not provide the island territory with direct financial support, it could still raise the hackles of creditors eager to toss around the “b” word in a bid to sap congressional momentum.

The issue is especially perilous for Rubio, who rode to office in 2010 on a wave of support from tea party voters vehemently opposed to government rescues of big banks and underwater homeowners.

So even though Rubio is locked with Bush in a zero-sum struggle with Bush for Florida primary votes, especially among Hispanics, he has been hesitant to weigh in.

“Senator Rubio has been closely watching events in Puerto Rico and is concerned about the economic situation there,” Rubio spokeswoman Brooke Sammon told POLITICO. “He’s in the process of reviewing the legislation to make sure it is the right approach to begin addressing Puerto Rico’s debt crisis without having any negative impact on American taxpayers.”

Pierluisi said it’s understandable why Rubio and Ted Cruz, the other 2016 candidate of Cuban descent, have been so cautious.

“I know for a fact that both of them have been studying this issue and their staff have been getting their feet wet on this,” Pierluisi said.

Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee has already previewed how the more conservative candidates might approach the issue.

“We’ve had enough bailouts. Puerto Rico is a commonwealth, not a state, and should not be allowed to file for Chapter 9 bankruptcy,” Huckabee told POLITICO.

Even among the candidates who support allowing Puerto Rico to file for bankruptcy, there was a visible cautiousness about using the dreaded term.

“We’re not talking about a bailout, we’re talking about a fair shot at success,” Clinton said in Tuesday’s statement.