Biden can’t afford to ignore Florida’s Puerto Rican voters. They might make the difference | Opinion

News outlets have reported recently that, in a letter leaked to the media, field organizers for the Joe Biden campaign in Florida complained about mistreatment and abrupt transfers to communities where Spanish-speaking communities are less concentrated. The reports indicate that these organizers were transferred from Central Florida to Duval County in North Florida.

This move coincides with a tightening race for president in the Sunshine State, home to more than 1 million Puerto Ricans. In Pennsylvania, another swing state and where with its national organizing effort is located in Philadelphia, the Biden campaign is nonexistent, , according to Puerto Rican political activists there.

It seems odd and counter-intuitive for the Biden campaign to appear tone deaf to the fact that in both Florida and Pennsylvania, Puerto Ricans make up a majority of the Hispanic Democratic vote. In Florida, field organizers were removed from Central Florida (the famed I-4 corridor that runs from Orlando to Tampa). In South Florida, where 400,000 Puerto Ricans reside, there are no Puerto Rican field organizers at all. In Pennsylvania, there appear to be no Puerto Rican field organizers, either.

Why does this matter?

Puerto Rican voters, like voters of many other communities, are finicky. They want political campaigns to cater to them, to consider their issues and, as important, to speak to them directly. Hispanics are not a monolithic group and, as such, require a more-nuanced approach. In Florida and Pennsylvania, Puerto Ricans are going to be mobilized by other Puerto Ricans, especially, if they come from those same communities. It is baffling that the Biden campaign does not seem to get this point.

In Florida and Pennsylvania, two important swing states the ultimate margin for victory may again be small. In Florida, in 2016, Donald Trump beat Hillary Clinton by 112,000 votes. In Pennsylvania, the margin was even tighter: 44,000 votes. Florida has the largest Puerto Rican population in the United States and Pennsylvania the fourth largest. In Florida, there could be close to 600,000 eligible Puerto Rican voters who are Democrats or Democratic-leaning independents; in Pennsylvania that number is 300,000. Though Puerto Ricans in Florida tend to vote at 50-55 percent, in the 2018 midterm elections, that number was 70 percent in many precincts in Central Florida. With Puerto Rican field organizers in Florida and Pennsylvania those communities can swing the election.

In the last few weeks, the national polls have reflected Biden’s significant lead over Trump. Some local polls have had Biden leading by double figures, but, we know that those polls will tighten. As the race moves ever closer to November, the margin of victory could be slim. Puerto Rican voters are poised, if properly approached, to make the difference.

Dr. Victor Vazquez-Hernandez is former president of the National Congress for Puerto Rican Rights. He is a professor of history at Miami Dade College.

This story was originally published August 3, 2020 at 3:32 PM.