Florida is one of the many states in the U.S. whose name is Spanish in origin. “La Florida” which can be translated to mean “the flowering” references the beautiful flowers that grow and blossom here. Florida’s name is not the only mark that Hispanic people have left on the state, especially South Florida.
In his article titled Miami’s Hispanic Heritage, author and professor at Florida International University, Frank De Varona wrote, “Some Hispanics began arriving in South Florida from the 1930s to the 1950s as Caribbean nations, including Cuba, began experiencing economic and political instability.”
Although the arrival of Spanish-speaking people came long before the 1930s, most Hispanic contributions can be traced to large immigration groups of Cubans, Venezuelans and Nicaraguans.
Dustin Burna, associate professor of political science and conflict resolution at Nova Southeastern University, noted that immigrants can influence politics based on the situations they are coming from.
“You will find that those that come from socialist countries come here and are more conservative, they’re more Republican. … On the other hand, those that come from right wing dictatorships or extremist group countries … like Brazil or Mexico come here and are much more Democratic,” said Burna.
According to an FIU study titled “Florida’s Changing Demographics: Hispanic Political Influence”, one in four Floridians are reported to be Hispanic. This makes the Hispanic vote powerful yet complicated in South Florida.
In the 2020 general election, President Joe Biden won Miami-Dade County for the presidential race but Maria Elvira Salazar, republican candidate who ran against incumbent Democrat Donna Shalala for a congressional seat, won.
Burna said, “There were two seats in Miami Dade county that flipped from Republican to Democrat … the polls predicted they would stay Democrat but they flipped Republican, and now, I suspect, in the next election they will flip back to Democrat.”
According to Miami Dade Matters, an intelligence and information platform, the Hispanic population in Miami-Dade County is 71% of the overall population, making the majority of the voter conglomerate Hispanic. Since Hispanic voter preferences vary dramatically, this makes elections hard to predict.
Hispanics also contribute to the South Floridian economy.
According to the Florida State Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, there are 604,000 Hispanic-owned businesses throughout the state. All these businesses together provide $90 billion to the Floridian economy each year.
The influx of Hispanic immigration to South Florida has changed both the economy and the political process. These changes have been beneficial to the economy and have greatly enriched the political discourse in Florida and, ultimately, have diversified the state.
