TAMPA, Fla. — The midterm election is three weeks away and candidates around the state of Florida are hitting the campaign trail hard in a final push to capture as many votes as possible.
Tuesday in Tampa at the Republican National Committee Hispanic Community Center, several candidates and volunteers gathered to applaud Republican efforts and inspire others to vote Conservative on Nov. 8.
"We can win. There’s no reason we can’t win," said Republican Florida Sen. Rick Scott who was there in support of other candidates as he is not up for reelection until 2024.
According to Pew Research, the Latino population makes up 21% of eligible voters in Florida. There are currently 3.4 million eligible Hispanic voters in the Sunshine State, behind only California with 8.3 million and Texas with 6.2 million Hispanic voters.
The Republican event was held at the RNC Hispanic Community Center in the middle of a strip mall anchored by a Latin Fresh Market on Gunn Highway in Tampa, the road separating District 14 and District 15, the newly added seat in Florida.
Republican Voter Carmen Damron, a first-generation born Cuban went out of her way to attend Tuesday's rally.
"People have the association that if you’re Hispanic, you’re automatically going to vote Democrat, but if you talk to them, they are Conservative, they are Republican," said Damron who is most concerned about what's being taught in Florida schools and what she considers to be a lack of patriotism within school curriculum.
Democratic candidate for governor, Charlie Crist, was on the campaign trail in West Palm Beach Tuesday. Crist criticized Gov. Ron DeSantis, saying the governor is abandoning Florida with sights on a U.S. presidential run.
"He doesn’t care about Florida. He’s running for president," said Crist who believes Hispanic voters are most concerned about affordability and respect for democracy.
"So many of our Hispanic immigrants and children of immigrants have come from regimes where voting was challenging, difficult, and unlawful and now we have a governor in Florida right now who's making it very very difficult to exercise your right to vote," Crist said.
Appealing to the Hispanic vote has been a big priority according to the Florida Democratic Party Chair Manny Diaz.
"There’s an increasing tendency to register No Party Affiliate so in a swing state, it’s a very swing vote," said Diaz who believes it often has more to do with the individual candidate than political affiliation when it comes to securing the Latino vote.