Dems In Florida Don’t Know How To Attract Latino Votes

While this story in particular highlights Florida, I think it’s safe to say a similar pattern is playing itself out in the rest of the country. Although Florida’s Democratic voter rolls have grown in recent years, the state’s party infrastructure doesn’t really know how to capitalize on those numbers. They’re like, “eh?” Or, as the Associated Press puts it:

But despite their success on paper, state Democratic officials are struggling to connect with Hispanics, who have little representation among the party’s Florida leadership…

That’s a problem for the party statewide but especially true in South Florida, where Cuban exiles have long been loyal to the Republican Party and have built their influence over decades. The list of high-level Republican GOP Hispanics includes U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, South Florida’s three members of Congress and state House Majority Leader Carlos Lopez-Cantera. The run-off for Miami-Dade County mayor pitted two Republican Cuban-Americans against each other.

Meanwhile, only three Latino Democrats serve in the state House, none in the Senate. And as the state begins the process of redrawing political boundaries to conform with population changes since 2000 — which will likely lead to at least one new heavily Hispanic congressional seat — Democratic party officials have been slow to respond.

Which is to say, the numbers kinda caught the Dems by surprise and now they’re scrambling to figure out how to make the most of something they didn’t know they had. How do you think it’ll play out?

Follow Sara Inés Calderón on Twitter @SaraChicaD