Puerto Ricans are on track to become Florida’s largest Latino demographic according to a new report from the Hispanic Federation and the ratings company Nielsen. New data show nearly one million Puerto Ricans live in Florida now, most in central Florida.
Cubans currently make up the state’s largest Latino group, followed by Puerto Ricans, then Mexicans.
Neilsen Multicultural Growth & Strategy general manager Monica Gil says the rapid growth in the number of Puerto Ricans adds diversity to Florida’s overall landscape and widen the scope of what it means to be Latino and American, particularly as it relates to politics.
”Traditionally, Latinos have been viewed to as one lens, to be leaning toward one party more than another,” she says. “The data shows you can no longer see that.”
Luis Miranda, founder of the Hispanic Federation and co-chair of the Nielsen Hispanic Latino External Advisory Council says growth of the Latino population in Florida should affect how political campaigns engage with voters.
“It’s not enough to just take an English commercial, translate it into Spanish, and somehow put it on tv on radio. Now, you have to speak to the issues for that particular population. It’s diversity in voting and in political analysis.”
The report adds that millennials make up one of the fasting growing groups within Florida’s Latino communities.
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