Opinion | Ron DeSantis’ popularity among Latinos is the fault of hapless Democrats – By Julio Ricardo Varela (MSNBC) / Oct 30, 2022
Democrats are apparently conceding Florida, and DeSantis will likely be a 2024 presidential candidate with strong support from Latino voters.
Despite political predictions in September that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis had made a “huge mistake” when he authorized the trafficking of mostly Venezuelan migrants to Martha’s Vineyard using state money, two polls released this week (one by Telemundo/LX News and one by Futuro Media, the company I work for) show, respectively, that DeSantis is winning the Latino vote in his run for re-election and that he is the most popular politician among Florida’s Latino voters.
While it might be tempting to give all the credit to DeSantis and the Republican Party, the governor’s popularity among Latinos is more a function of how Democrats failed miserably to maintain the momentum they gained during the 2008 and 2012 election cycles, when Barack Obama won the state. Back then, Democrats were praised for understanding how Latino voters were changing the state and for being ahead of a transformation that moved away from the traditional Cuban voter base and gravitated toward a growing Puerto Rican population as well as voters from Latin America. But those days are gone.
The Future Media poll shows that 43% of likely Latino voters have a “very favorable” view of DeSantis, and 9% have a “somewhat favorable” view of him for an overall favorability rating of 52%. Sen. Marco Rubio has an overall favorability rating of 50% and former President Donald Trump, 48%. Latinos account for 21% of the state’s eligible voters. Even as DeSantis’ Martha’s Vineyard stunt was being condemned, there was plenty of support from mostly Venuezuelan conservatives in Florida who saw the stunt as an effective way to criticize President Biden’s immigration policy and call attention to the “delinquents” leaving the South American country. But it’s not just Venezuelans or even conservative Latinos.
