Miami politics heat up as candidates seek key Cuban American vote – WPTV News Channel 5 West Palm

MIAMI — Five Republican presidential hopefuls will go head-to-head Wednesday in Miami during the third GOP presidential debate.

Many Republicans believe Florida is one of the key states needed to win the race for the White House.

WPTV went to Miami-Dade County to speak with Cuban American voters to get their thoughts as the presidential race heats up.

Little Havana is not so small when it comes to influence and politics. What happens in Miami matters, especially when it comes to the GOP race for the presidency.

At Domino Park along Calle Ocho, they like to have fun and play games, but there is a lot of political talk as well.

“Especially here. It’s a constant conversation here,” one domino player said.

Not far away, politicians will take the stage Wednesday for the Republican presidential debate.

“We all fled from whatever country to come here because of politics or bad politics,” the domino player told WPTV. “Republicans always cater to the Spanish or the Cuban vote.”

In Little Havana, you won’t find a shortage of sights, sounds, tastes, smells and big personalities.

There are also big opinions when it comes to politics.

“Why is the Hispanic vote, the Cuban vote such an important voting bloc for the GOP?” WPTV reporter Tory Dunnan asked a local store owner.

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“Well, you know what, we need a big change and we need it now,” a business owner named “Big Poppa” said. “Not for tomorrow, we need it now.”

The locals are used to visits from politicians looking to snag their support.

“They always come. They always stop at Versailles [Restaurant],” one man said.

“Here in Florida, the Hispanic vote is very key,” Florida Atlantic University professor Kevin Wagner said. “Republicans have had a lot of success in Miami-Dade, especially in recent election cycles. They have done very well with the Cuban American vote historically, but specifically in the last election cycle, Ron DeSantis did very, very well down in Miami-Dade.”

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“Are there Hispanic voters for Republicans to still win over in Miami-Dade?” Dunnan asked Wagner.

“One of the things that we say in political behavior is it’s not necessarily the number of people you convince, it’s the number of people that you convince to actually go vote,” Wagner said.

The Cuban vote is just one of many important Hispanic voting blocs in Florida.

Rolando Chang Barrero, the president of the Democratic Hispanic Caucus of Florida, shared his thoughts on the presidential race.

“I think in politics everybody wanted to keep it simple for a long time,” Chang Barrero said. “They just used the word Hispanic voting bloc. I think that was smashed a while ago. I haven’t heard that term for a while because of the diversity.”

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Back in Little Havana, for now, life goes on.

“All you need is a domino table, a shot of espresso and a mojito and everything is great,” the domino player said. “Life is great.”

But perhaps there will be a bit more politics in the future days and months to come.

“We live politics here, day in and day out,” the domino player said.