Huge: Dems Pass GOP With Hispanics

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 9, 2008

TALLAHASSEE - Florida Republicans have got to be worried. Very worried.

After decades of dominance among Hispanic voters, the GOP is in freefall. Statistics issued by the Secretary of State this week show that there are now more Hispanic Democrats in Florida than there are Hispanic Republicans for the first time on record.

Even more startling is the fact that the demographic shift has occurred in rapid, dramatic fashion. Just two years ago Republicans held an advantage of 50,000 Hispanic registered voters, 409,237 to 358,837. [Florida Secretary of State statewide voter file, 4/06]

Now Democrats are on top by 3,000, according to the most recent statewide voter registration rolls - 418,339 Democrats versus 415,086 Republicans. [Florida Secretary of State statewide voter file, 5/08]

The implications for the 2008 elections are huge. Charlie Crist is the only Republican candidates to win statewide without winning the Hispanic vote. However, Crist pulled an unusually high 18% of the African-American vote to win with 52% of the total vote. Unfortunately for the GOP, there is no Republican on the ballot this year that can expect to come anywhere near Crist's total.

"Republicans have got to be extremely worried. They cannot win Florida without Hispanics," Florida Democratic Party spokesman Alejandro Miyar said. "The Republicans' troubles - from mismanagement to outright disrespect to years of hollow promises on Cuba are causing Hispanics to leave the GOP in droves. Hispanics know that the Republicans are responsible for the war in Iraq, the weakening economy and the increase in taxes and insurance costs."

Since 2006 - when Democrats won the statewide Hispanic vote for the first time according to exit polls - Republicans have gained less than 6,000 voters in comparison to the Democratic increase of more than 63,000. [2006 Florida Exit Poll, http://www.wcvi.org/latino_voter_research/polls/national/2006/fl/fl2006exitpoll.htm, Florida Secretary of State statewide voter file, 5/08]

There are now 1,178,515 total Hispanic voters registered in Florida with Democrats representing 35.50% of that total, Republicans 35.22% and Independents 29.28%.

Click here to view a table of these statistics.

While the past few years have seen a trend toward independent status, 2006 marked a turning point as Hispanics turned to the Democratic Party. Independent Hispanics have continued to gain vote share but Democrats have gained significantly more - while Republicans have declined precipitously.

In 2008, the speed picked up, with Democrats making leaps and bounds while both Republicans and independents lost ground.

"Hispanic Floridians - whether they're Puerto Rican or their family came to this country from Cuba, Venezuela, Mexico or anywhere in Latin America - view the Democratic Party as the one that truly welcomes and respects them as Americans," Miyar said. "We want and deserve the opportunity to access affordable healthcare, stronger schools and better jobs just like all Americans do. The Republican Party may claim to support our values, but their policies prove the opposite is true."