Cuban Americans are unique in their political stances when compared to other Hispanics. Cuban Americans, when it has come to elections and voting, mostly identify themselves as Republicans and conservatives, contrary to the overwhelming Hispanic voters who mostly vote Democrat. This happens because Cubans in particular have different experiences with the government in which they come from, Cuba, compared to other Hispanic Americans. According to a Pew Research Center survey conducted July 27-Aug. 2, 58% of Cuban registered voters nationwide say they either lean or strictly identify themselves as Republicans while only 38% affiliate themselves to the Democratic Party. On the other hand, 65% of non-Cuban Hispanic voters lean to the Democratic Party, and only 32% vote Republican. So, why is that the case?
Explaining the Cuban American Experience
As I mentioned above, Cubans, in particular, have different experiences with the government either in the United States or in their home country, Cuba. The older generation of Cubans suffered from a brutal and racist dictatorship that instituted systematic racial segregation into government and as they got older, they watched as this dictatorship was overthrown by a communist/socialist struggle under Fidel Castro. The younger generations watched as this revolution also developed into a dictatorship with very bad economic effects on the people in addition to the lack of freedom and civil rights in the law, all under the principle of socialism. For that the younger generation decided to migrate to a country that was very close to their home and also very fierce with the socialist ideas that destroyed their lives, that was the United States. They hoped for a better life under relatively more liberal laws that can make them better off economically and socially. Most of these people migrated to Florida, as it was the nearest US State to Cuba, and now, the highest concentration of Cubans is there.
For these reasons, Cubans have more at stake in this election than most countries in Latin America as Trump’s administration is trying to bring democracy and capitalism to Cuba and its socialist ally, Venezuela. Historically, Republicans have had a more hostile approach towards socialism than democrats. For example, Obama’s visit to Cuba towards the end of his presidency and his efforts to restore relations with Cuba may have been designated as an attempt towards peace and prosperity worldwide, but among Cuban Americans, it was a scary moment that the US may also be moving towards far-left ideas or getting closer with the dictatorship that once destroyed their lives. As a result, Cuban-Americans voted in numbers in 2016 to award the State of Florida and its 29 electoral votes to President Trump who campaigned an anti-socialist rhetoric in Florida to win the state.
Cuban Voter Behavior in Florida
In 2020, with the Anti-Trump tone that was sweeping the country before the November 3rd election, Trump campaigned heavily in Florida way before the elections. His administration repeatedly visited Florida to announce sanctions on Cuba from there, they stepped up their own anti-socialist tone to appease the Cuban American population in Florida, and as the election approached and the democratic nominee became Former VP Biden. Republicans in Florida used President Obama’s ties with Cuba to hit Joe Biden and label him as the socialist candidate among the Cuban population which led to a huge turnout in the Cuban-American population in Florida; awarding the heavily contested battleground state to incumbent President Trump.
In the end, President Trump needed the win at the State of Florida, so he did everything possible to achieve that; he wanted to keep Senator Marco Rubio in office to keep Cuban-Americans happy, he even invited veterans of the embarrassing Bay of Pigs invasion to the White House to “reaffirm our ironclad solidarity with the Cuban People” according to the president. Luckily these policies were in line with the demands of the Cuban people who were worried about the effects of an Obama 2.0 administration on them, so they voted for Trump and gave him the state.
