Both parties chase state's elusive Puerto Rican vote
A state House race shows the group's tendency to vote for the person, not the party.
By TAMARA LUSH
Published October 29, 2004
KISSIMMEE - Meet Juan Torres, a coveted Hispanic voter in Central Florida.
Torres is a 51-year-old construction worker and a registered Democrat. On a recent day at Olga's, a lunch counter in downtown Kissimmee, Torres sipped mondongo, a traditional Puerto Rican tripe stew, and talked politics.
On Nov. 2, Torres plans to vote for Democrat John Kerry for president and Republican incumbent John Quinones for the state House. "My vote is mixed," Torres said. "I never vote for all one party."
That worries both Republicans and Democrats, especially in the crucial Interstate 4 corridor, where tens of thousands of non-Cuban Latinos reside.
Each party has tried to peel off support from various Hispanic groups.
South Florida Cubans, traditionally the state's largest bloc of Hispanics, have voted heavily Republican for years. But other Hispanics, particularly Florida's burgeoning Puerto Rican population, are considered up for grabs.
"Latinos are not tied to one party," said Larry Gonzalez, the Washington, D.C., director of National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials. "It's legitimate to say that there is perhaps a level of allegiance initially based on ethnicity. But in general, Latinos are willing to cross over party lines."
Nowhere is this more evident than in state House District 49, where Quinones was elected in 2002 after legislative reapportionment.
Democratic leaders assumed the district would be theirs - it is 40 percent Hispanic, 40 percent white and nearly all working class.
But voters - especially Puerto Ricans, who traditionally vote Democrat - surprised some experts by crossing party lines to vote for one of their own.
This year, Quinones is battling to retain his seat against Israel Mercado, a Democrat with Puerto Rican roots. Their common ethnic background has made for a tighter race.
Both candidates are peppering the Orlando airwaves with television ads, and Quinones says his opponent mails "a flier a day" to voters.
Money and endorsements are pouring in from all sides. Quinones has received nearly $50,000 from the Republican Party of Florida and the Democrats have given nearly $40,000 to Mercado. Quinones, a lawyer, has received contributions from lobbyists and big businesses, and Gov. Jeb Bush routinely sends letters seeking votes for Quinones.
Earlier this year, Quinones spoke to a crowd of thousands at the Orange County Convention Center. The occasion: President Bush's re-election kickoff.
"People know me now," Quinones said. "They're going to vote for me because they know me."
Mercado, 28, a technical school teacher and a pastor, has gotten money from unions and people still living in Puerto Rico. He also has met with Democratic vice presidential candidate John Edwards and acknowledges he got a boost because his father, now retired, was a popular pastor in the area.
Mercado says he has visited 29,000 homes trying to sway voters away from the incumbent.
The two candidates debate the usual local issues: FCAT and teachers salaries, creating new jobs and keeping taxes low.
But both acknowledge this isn't a usual campaign.
"This goes beyond me and my opponent," Mercado said. "This is a race of parties, and which party is going to have control over Hispanic hearts."
This presidential election, Hispanics are expected to comprise 14 percent of Florida's eligible voters, according to a study by the Pew Hispanic Center.
Florida's Hispanic population grew by 477,000 people to 3.1-million since the 2000 election, when Bush won about 80 percent of the Cuban vote. Gore took about 54 percent of the non-Cuban Hispanic vote, according to a survey for the National Council of La Raza.
In House District 49, which straddles the Orange-Osceola county line, Gov. Jeb Bush won overwhelmingly over Democrat Bill McBride in the 2002 governor's race. Many political watchers from both parties say Quinones was boosted by Bush's popularity in the Hispanic community - Bush speaks Spanish and is married to a Mexican-American.
"Jeb has cracked the code in romancing the Hispanic population," Mercado said. "And I think Hispanics see a clear distinction between he and his brother."
That explains the Hispanic votes for Kerry.
But it doesn't entirely explain people like Gregory Anton, a 79-year-old retiree from Kissimmee. Anton, who was born in Mexico and lived in Puerto Rico, says he will vote for Kerry - and Republican Senate candidate Mel Martinez, whose ideology is about as opposite from Kerry's as can be.
"Voto para la persona, no el partido," Anton said - he votes for the person, not the party. Like some Hispanics, he votes along ethnic lines.
Anton mentions the word "ayuda" - help - when talking about Martinez, as in "he has helped the Hispanic community."
Martinez enjoys support in the Orlando area partly because he was once Orange County's elected chairman, similar to county mayor.
Still, people like Torres, the construction worker in Kissimmee, have more clearly defined reasons for voting the way they do.
As both political parties are discovering, a personal touch still means more than any slicing and dicing of demographics.
"I saw John Quinones at a festival," Torres said. "I like the way he talks to people."
Times researcher Carolyn Edds and the Associated Press contributed to this report. [Last modified October 28, 2004, 23:48:14]
