|
 |
|
Esta página no está disponible en español. Big Jump In Hispanic Voters In Florida…A Key To Election… Florida Latino Community Backs Bush by Shrinking Margin
Big Jump In Hispanic Voters In Florida Hispanic Population Grows Statewide The Census Bureau estimated that Florida's Hispanic population has grown by 500,000 in four years, with South Florida leading the way. BY TIM HENDERSON September 30, 2004 South Florida's ethnic mix has become even more diverse since the 2000 Census, according to new estimates released today by the Census Bureau. Going into the November election, Florida will have at least half a million more Hispanics than it did in 2000, almost half of them generated by South Florida growth. In Miami-Dade County, the Hispanic majority grew from 57 percent to 60 percent in 2003. Broward County's Hispanic population climbed 28 percent, to reach one in five residents. Broward's white non-Hispanic population is a majority at 53 percent, declining by 42,000 people since 2000. Miami-Dade's white non-Hispanic population dropped by about the same number and is now 19 percent of the total. The big jump in Hispanic population is fed both by immigration and movement from Miami-Dade to Broward, said Thomas Boswell, a geography professor at the University of Miami who watches demographic trends. ''My sense is that you have a lot of well-off South American immigrants coming to places like Weston,'' Boswell said. ``You also have second-generation Hispanics moving out of Dade County and into Broward, partly because of the good housing that's there and also to put a little distance between them and their families in Dade County.'' West Indian immigrants from Haiti and Jamaica also are making their mark on Dade and Broward, jumping from 10 percent to 12 percent of the Broward population. West Indians make up about 8 percent of Miami-Dade's population.'' Miami-Dade is still the most Hispanic of the nation's two dozen largest urban counties -- those with a population of more than 1 million. The Bronx in New York City joined the short list of those with a Hispanic majority, jumping from 48 percent to 51 percent Hispanic since 2000. The other Hispanic-majority large county is Bexar County, Texas, where San Antonio is located, which rose slightly to 56 percent. Miami-Dade's black population grew slightly and remained at 22 percent of the population, while Broward's black population grew by 19 percent and remains at about 30 percent. The Pew Hispanic Center in Washington, D.C., said the number of Hispanic voters nationwide will have increased by about 20 percent, to 16 million, when compared to the 2000 presidential election, The Associated Press reported. In Florida, 44 percent of Hispanic voters are naturalized citizens, but Florida-born Hispanics account for 83 percent of newly eligible Hispanic voters. In Central Florida, the growing Puerto Rican community has traditionally cast its ballots for Democrats. Orange, Seminole and Osceola counties have seen an average 24 percent increase in the number of Hispanics from 2000 to July 2003. Stan Smith, director of the University of Florida's Bureau of Economic and Business Research, predicts that in the next 25 years, Florida's Hispanic population will outpace the state's non-Hispanic white and black populations, largely because of migration and high birth rates. The Cuban share of Florida's Hispanic population is declining, Smith noted. ``Twenty years ago they made up more than half of the state's Hispanics. Now it's down to 31 percent.'' Florida Hispanics A Key To Election By RON WORD September 30, 2004 JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Eligible to vote for the first time, 21-year-old Valerie Figueroa will play a part in the presidential election this November, joining a throng of new Hispanic voters who may make a difference in the race's outcome in Florida and possibly the nation. Since 2000, Florida's Hispanic population has grown by more than 477,000, according to U.S. Census figures released Thursday, putting the number at 3,160,287. Hispanics now account for 18.5 percent of the state's population of 17 million and about 14 percent of the state's eligible voters. In 2000, Hispanics made up 16.7 percent of the population. Figueroa, a telecommunications production major at the University of Florida, said she is an independent who supports Democrat John Kerry in the presidential race, but plans to vote for Republican Mel Martinez in the U.S. Senate race because he is Hispanic. Figueroa, active in both Hispanic and Puerto Rican student groups, said she believes the increase in the number of Hispanics in Florida will translate into political power. "We are growing and we want change. As we grow, our impact on elections will grow along with us," she said. Joseph Agostini, a spokesman for the Republican Party of Florida, said the importance of the Hispanic vote is evident in the amount of money both parties have spent on media buys seeking their votes. "They will be vital to a victory in November," he said. The Pew Hispanic Center in Washington, D.C., said the number of Hispanic voters nationwide will have increased by about 20 percent, to 16 million, when compared to the 2000 presidential election. In Florida, 44 percent of the Hispanic voters are naturalized citizens, but Florida-born Hispanics account for 83 percent of newly eligible Hispanic voters, the Pew report said. "Nearly eight of out of every 10 new Hispanic eligible voters since the last presidential election is a native-born U.S. citizen who has become old enough to vote as opposed to an immigrant who has become a citizen through naturalization," Pew said in a report, "The Hispanic Electorate in 2004." Roberto Suro, director of the Pew Hispanic Center, said it's hard to assess the impact of Hispanic voters in Florida. "It really depends on who votes," he said, noting that Cuban voters in the Miami area have traditionally voted for Republicans in national and congressional elections, while the growing Puerto Rican community in central Florida has traditionally cast its ballots for Democrats. The forced removal of Elian Gonzalez from the Miami home of his Cuban relatives brought Cuban voters to the polls in record numbers to vote for George Bush because they were unhappy with the Clinton-Gore administration's handling of the case, Suro said. "The share of the Republicans who voted was historically high," Suro said. But, he added, "There is no reason to automatically assume that will happen again." Nationally, Hispanics traditionally have favored the Democratic Party in presidential elections, but that support has declined in recent years. In 1996, 72 percent of Hispanics voted to re-elect President Clinton, while 21 percent voted for Republican Bob Dole. Four years later, Democrat Al Gore won 62 percent of the Hispanic vote and Bush picked up 35 percent. The Census showed other Hispanic communities around the nation are booming -- and getting national attention. The number of Hispanics living in Nevada's Clark County, the state's most populous, grew by 25 percent during the first three years of the millennium, adding to their political clout in a battleground state. And in Colorado, the fact that an estimated 90,000 Hispanics have moved to the state has not gone unnoticed by Republicans and Democrats. Both parties are offering pamphlets and Internet sites in Spanish, and providing spokesmen for Spanish radio and television stations. * __ On the Net: U.S. Census Bureau: http://www.census.gov Florida Latino Community Backs Bush by Shrinking Margin; Democratic Challenger Not Far Behind New Poll Finds Healthcare Access, Jobs, Homeland Security Top Issues Among Florida Latinos; Martinez Bests Castor by 20 Points in Survey October 2, 2004 LOS ANGELES, Oct. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- A new poll conducted among likely Latino voters this week in the battleground state of Florida finds President George W. Bush leading U.S. Senator John Kerry by a margin of 44% to 37%, with 16% of respondents still undecided. The poll, conducted prior to Thursday nights debate between the presidential challengers also found that, unlike prior polls, health care access, jobs, and homeland security topped the list of issues respondents care about in determining their vote for president. "This is terrible news for President Bush," said Antonio Gonzalez, president of the Willie C. Velasquez Institute. "He may be leading, but he did far better in the 2000 election when he won the Latino vote by 61% to 39%. This margin will probably not be enough for President Bush if this election is anywhere near as close as the last one. He has to convince Latinos he can do a better job than Senator Kerry and at this point he simply hasn't to the degree that he needs to." Overall, Latinos give President Bush reasonably solid numbers on job performance, with 56% rating the President as excellent or good compared to 42% of respondents rating him as not good or poor. An equal number of respondents rated President Bush's serving the Hispanic community as excellent or good 46% as not good or poor 46%. When compared to Senator Kerry in terms of reaching out to the Hispanic community, respondents believe the President is making a stronger effort to reach out to the Hispanic community over Kerry by a margin of 44% to 24%, with 13% saying neither has done a good job of outreach. "Senator Kerry is not perceived by Latino voters as showing up in Florida, added Gonzalez. "He has got to ask for the Latino vote and he hasn't done that effectively and consistently. There is still a large percentage out there that can be wooed to his side, but he's got to get out there and not take them or granted, or for that matter, write them off." When asked which three issues would determine their vote for president this year, Latinos surprisingly cited health care access as their number one issue (38%), followed by strengthening jobs (28%), homeland security (28%), and social security (26%). The war in Iraq was cited by only 24% of respondents. President Bush was considered a strong leader over his democratic opponent by a margin of 55% to 26%, and was rated best in terms of understanding the Hispanic community's needs, with 47% siding with the President compared to Senator Kerry, at 25%. In the closely contested U.S. Senate race, U.S. Representative Mel Martinez has a strong lead over challenger Betty Castor, with Latino respondents choosing Martinez over Castor by a margin of 48% to 28%, with 23% still undecided. Martinez bests Castor in every age, gender and income category except those in the 18 to 34 age group (28% to 37%), and those who make over $60,000 annually (38% to 48%). The sample, conducted September 27 - 30, includes a total of 1000 interviews (200 interviews each in Nevada, New Mexico, Colorado, Florida and Arizona) with an overall margin of error of plus/minus 3%. The margin of error for each state is significantly higher. The poll for WCVI was conducted by Mirram Global, a consulting firm in New York with vast experience in measuring the Latino community. About the Willie C. Velasquez Institute Chartered in 1985, the Willie C. Velasquez Institute is a nonpartisan, non-profit, Latino-oriented research and policy think tank with offices in San Antonio, Texas and Los Angeles, California. For more information regarding WCVI, please visit our website at http://www.wcvi.org. SOURCE The Willie C. Velasquez Institute Web Site: http://www.wcvi.org
|