The Daily 202: Trump's Katrina? Influx of Puerto Ricans after Hurricane Maria could tip Florida... [View all]

[DonViejo]

The Daily 202: Trump’s Katrina? Influx of Puerto Ricans after Hurricane Maria could tip Florida toward Democrats.

By James Hohmann September 28 at 7:22 AM

THE BIG IDEA: More than 50 million ballots were cast by Floridians in the seven presidential elections from 1992 through 2016. If you add them all up, only 18,000 votes separate the Republicans from the Democrats. That is 0.04 percent.

Florida is rightfully considered the swingiest of swing states. Control of the White House in 2000 came down to a few hundred hanging chads — and one vote on the Supreme Court. The past four statewide elections — two governor’s races and two presidentials — were all decided by a single percentage point.

So it could be quite politically significant that tens of thousands of Puerto Ricans, maybe more, are expected to permanently move into Florida as the result of Hurricane Maria. The Category 4 storm has wreaked havoc on the U.S. territory of 3.4 million. Most of the island still doesn’t have power a week after Maria made landfall. There are shortages of fuel, medicine, food and running water. Infrastructure that was already crumbling is in ruins.

Puerto Ricans are American citizens, thanks to a law passed in 1917. As a result, all they need to settle in the mainland is a plane ticket or a berth on a boat.

Their citizenship entitles them to vote, and they tend to overwhelmingly support Democratic candidates.

Florida-based Republican operative Rick Wilson thinks the hurricane might be a game changer. “If you put an influx of 100,000 Puerto Ricans who vote Democratic eight times out of 10 in the Orlando area, there you go,” he said. “Nobody can afford a big change in the registration pattern or a change in the voting pattern that offsets Florida’s narrowness. You could end up with a big advantage for Democrats in 2018 if they play it right. The Puerto Ricans would be coming here because they feel like Donald Trump left them high and dry. That won’t fade away. … It could be a very, very big deal.”

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/paloma/daily-202/2017/09/28/daily-202-trump-s-katrina-influx-of-puerto-ricans-after-hurricane-maria-could-tip-florida-toward-democrats/59cc037c30fb0468cea81c2f/?utm_term=.be6fefa00315