Florida Democrats Are Freaking Out That Trump Is Gaining With Latino Voters

Back in May, Donald Trump’s campaign manager Brad Parscale announced that not only was Trump launching a new Hispanic Vote outreach but that it was also going to be headquartered in Miami. Florida Democrats immediately began to worry, according to The Miami Herald.

Democrats in the Sunshine State have recently suffered a number of losses to Trump and the GOP. In 2016, the swing state went for Trump. Then, in 2018, both the governorship and a Senate seat went to Republicans after two incredibly tight and hard-fought races.

Democratic pollster Fernand Amandi explained that any gains with Hispanic voters spelled trouble for Democrats as Republicans only needed to make small inroads to win over the state.

“Republicans are not in any effort to win the Hispanic vote. That’s never their objective,” he explained.

“Their calculus is how do we manage the margins and do what’s necessary to squeeze out an extra 4 or 5 percentage points, which in the state of Florida represents the margins between victory and defeat.”

Republicans were able to flip those Hispanic voters in the previous elections by aggressively campaigning in exile communities in Miami. Those neighborhoods serve as home to nearly half the state’s voting Latino population and often consist of immigrants that have come from Cuba or Venezuela, who have seen firsthand the ills of their socialist countries and are wary of the liberal slide leftward.

According to Parscale, internal polling data show that the president is doing better with Hispanics than he was in 2016, despite his tough stance on immigration. His increase in popularity stems mainly from his hard line on Cuba and his support for Venezuela’s opposition leader Juan Guaidó.

John Jordan, a prominent Republican donor, commissioned a national Latino voter survey in May and found that though Latino voters may dislike Trump, his policies themselves often found support.

“The Trump brand and Trump personally, as you would expect, is rather toxic, but his policies are not — even the ones people would ordinarily think are anathema to Latino voters,” he explained.

That said, the polling numbers are less optimistic on Trump’s chances than politicos. As reported by The Inquisitr, a recent Quinnipiac poll shows current Democratic frontrunner Joe Biden ahead of Trump by nine points in the famous swing state.

However, a Florida Atlantic poll conducted a month ago showed Biden and Trump tied at 50 percent each.

Florida, specifically Orlando, was also the location where Trump decided to launch his 2020 campaign. The rally was estimated to have attracted nearly 20,000 people.