At a Hialeah polling place, dueling salsa music, taunts of ‘comunista,’ and shy voters

Late Tuesday morning, the sounds of “Pa fuera, pa la calle” from speakers on a truck of Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden supporters clashed with the “Yo voy a votar por Trump” tune coming from a rival car outside the polling place at the JFK Library in Hialeah.

As the Biden pickup drove through the parking lot, a cluster of President Donald Trump supporters with bullhorns quipped “Aqui llegaron los comunistas de Miami” — “Miami’s communists are here.”

But voters in line were much more coy.

Who was Claribel Gonzalez going to vote for?

“For a president who will represent us — especially Latinos,” said the 55-year-old Cuban native.

Her priorities in order: the pandemic, the economy and unity.

“I came to vote because I need this country to come together,” Gonzalez said. “We’re too divided. We need somebody who represents us and who will bring peace and unity to this country. That’s very important and that’s why I’m here, because my vote could make a difference.”

Hialeah is a Republican bastion where more than half of the 240,000 residents are Cuban. It is also a place where Democrats have repeatedly fallen short of challenging conservative politicians, up and down the ticket.

Of the 115,628 registered voters in the city of Hialeah, about 26% are registered Democrats and 40% are registered Republicans. The John F. Kennedy Library precinct voted 58% for Trump and 42% for former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in 2016. Clinton did, however, win Hialeah in 2016 with 72.26% of the vote.

Some were less willing to shrug off the library pep rally. Carolina Hidalgo-McCabe, a Biden campaign worker who has been making the rounds to various sites with her Cubanos Por Biden organization, said that Trump supporters were yelling obscenities and intimidating voters.

“They are in the parking lot yelling at voters, running laps with Trump banners and a megaphone with a siren noise and driving pickup trucks in circles while honking and waving flags,” said Hidalgo-McCabe, 20, who lives in Westchester. “I’ve been to a lot of polling places during early voting and I’ve seen nothing as crazy as this. It’s very intimidating to voters who just want to vote.”

Hildalgo-McCabe added: “They’re shouting, ‘If you vote for Democrats, you’re voting for death,’ and ‘God bless Obama and Hillary in jail,’ and they were shouting at us ‘baby killers’ and ‘communists’ and ‘traitors.’ “

The Biden worker said she was “relieved” to be moving along to the South Miami-Dade library site in the afternoon.

As tensions flared, Andy Perez, a 34-year-old Cuban American, was waiting in line. Perez said he came out to vote to “make sure everything stays on point.”

“I want to make sure everybody’s good, safe, and our rights, including our Second Amendment rights, aren’t hindered,” he said, declining to reveal his candidate of choice.

“But you can probably tell from my answers,” he added with a laugh.

He said he feels that Hialeah is split 50-50 between Democrats and Republicans this election year.

“I feel your vote should be about what’s happening in this country and not about what will happen in your birth country if someone gets elected,” Perez said. “As long as this country is good that’s what matters.”

Carmen Cortes, 59, from Panama, patiently waited her turn in line near Perez.

“I’m going to keep it to myself,” she said, when asked who she’s voting for.

“I think sharing that feeds the discord,” she said, as she scanned the display going on in the parking lot. “These things are personal and should be kept secret.”

This story was originally published November 3, 2020 at 4:20 PM.