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Sunshine State Experiences Hispanic Boom

Walter Michot
/
Miami Herald
Maria Lozano 50, and Gabriella Genao 20, speak to the media after voting for Hillary Clinton in Florida’s presidential primary March 15. ";

The newest data from the U.S. Census shows Florida's population grew by almost a million and a half between 2010 and 2015. And, more than half of those new residents are Hispanic.

Mary Ellen Klas, the Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau Chief, explains how the changing demographics can impact the upcoming elections. 

It has been interesting because we've seen an exponential growth in South Florida in the number of Hispanics in the last five years. But it's not the raw numbers, it's actually the percentage of growth that's been really high.

There have been communities that are typically very white, like St. John's County, which saw a 42 percent surge in Hispanics. So while the numbers are not as high as in South Florida, the number of Hispanics in those communities has nearly doubled.

1.46 Million people were added to Florida's population from 2010-15. Hispanics account for 51 percent of that growth.

How many of those folks (new Hispanics) are registered to vote? Do Hispanics come out in big enough numbers during election seasons?

Hispanics who are new to this country often take a couple years to reach citizenship and thus register to vote. So there is often a lag, even though in Florida we've seen a very big surge in Puerto Ricans, who are citizens and they can vote as soon as they have established a place of residence. Hispanics nationwide, their participation rate in elections is not as high as as other ethnic groups, and not as high as whites or blacks.

How are politicians looking at Florida in this upcoming election? How important is Florida?

Florida is the largest swing state and it is definitely the largest swing state with a very large Hispanic population. So just the idea that we have more Hispanics here, I think, has the potential to influence the existing Hispanic voting group and voting groups [everywhere else]. So they will play I think a very important role in determining races across the state.

Now, they say they're voting but you know not all of them are voting but. The failure of John McCain and Mitt Romney in the last two election cycles in Florida, a lot of people identified it as them not reaching out and and addressing the needs of the Hispanic voters. And by contrast they now have Donald Trump who seems to be antagonizing a lot of these voters, the question is, how will it play out.

Credit US Census Bureau
The U.S. Census Bureau looks at the growth of Hispanics across Florida between 2010 and 2015.

Luis Hernandez is an award-winning journalist and host whose career spans three decades in cities across the U.S. He’s the host of WLRN’s newest daily talk show, Sundial (Mon-Thu), and the news anchor every afternoon during All Things Considered.
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