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The Villages
Thursday, March 28, 2024

Hispanics the Scott-Crist target as early voting starts

With two weeks to go in the Florida gubernatorial contest, the leading candidates have spent recent days cultivating Hispanic voters across the Sunshine State.

Even as Florida’s growing Puerto Rican population and their role in state politics garnered national notice on Monday in an article from Yahoo, the Republican Party of Florida (RPOF) launched a new TV ad trying to woo some of these voters for Gov. Rick Scott.

Former Gov. Luis Fortuño, R-Puerto Rico, and former Miami Mayor Maurice Ferré appeared in a new Spanish language TV ad for Scott. Ferré was born in Ponce, Puerto Rico, and his uncle Luis Ferré served as governor of that commonwealth from 1969-1973. The RPOF unveiled the new ad on Monday.

“He’s a Republican,” Ferré says in the ad via a translation provided by the RPOF.

“And he’s a Democrat,” Fortuño replies.

“Agreeing on anything isn’t easy,” Ferré says.

“But here’s why we agree that Governor Rick Scott deserves your vote,” Fortuño says.

“Scott’s working on improving our state’s transportation and that creates jobs,” Ferré notes.

“On education, Scott secured historic funding, pay raises for teachers and lowered tuition that
Charlie Crist increased,” Fortuño says.

After running for the Democratic nomination in the 2010 U.S. Senate contest, Ferré backed Scott in that year’s gubernatorial nomination. Ferré endorsed former Florida Senate Minority Leader Nan Rich over Crist in the primary earlier this year.

For his part, as early voting began, Scott spent part of Monday campaigning in Miami alongside two prominent Hispanic Republicans: U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and Lt. Gov. Carlos Lopez-Cantera.

But the Democrats held an early voting event in South Dade on Monday featuring Democratic challenger former Gov. Charlie Crist’s running mate and a congressman. Annette Taddeo, who led Miami-Dade Democrats before being named Crist’s running mate, and U.S. Rep. Joe Garcia, D-Fla., voted and tried to rally their supporters in Miami-Dade.

“Voting plays a critical role in helping South Florida succeed, and I’m excited to join Annette as we walk to the polls to mark the first day of early voting,” said Garcia on Monday. “If you are a resident in this community, and you want to protect Medicare and Social Security, if you don’t want flood insurance rates to skyrocket, or if you believe in a minimum wage at $10.10, it’s important that you vote.”

Taddeo also campaigned over the weekend with U.S. Rep. Joaquín Castro, D-Texas, in Kissimee, where the Hispanic population continues to grow quickly.


Reach Kevin Derby at
kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or follow him on Twitter: @KevinDerbySSN

 

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