MIAMI — Former President Barack Obama and “Despacito” singer Luis Fonsi will hold a closeout rally in South Florida on Monday night on the eve of Election Day, hoping to rally Latino voters in a critical battleground state where the two presidential candidates are in a dead heat.
Florida’s two-week early voting period ended Sunday. More registered Democrats have cast ballots so far than registered Republicans—over 108,000 more, according to figures from the Florida Division of Elections.
Florida, with 29 electoral votes, is usually won by razor thin margins. Obama won the state in 2012 by 74,000 votes and Trump carried it in 2016 by about 112,000.
Obama won the Florida Hispanic vote 60 percent to 39 percent. Since then, Latino eligible voters have grown to make up 17 percent of the state. But alliances have shifted since then. While Obama won the Cuban American vote, President Donald Trump’s deluge of messaging attacking Democrats as socialists has been effective in winning over that voter group. Trump has also won the backing of Venezuelan Americans, who are smaller in numbers, and has made inroads with Colombian Americans.
Health care is often cited as a top voting issue among Latinos, and Hispanic-heavy areas have large numbers of enrollees in the Affordable Care Act, which was rolled out by the Obama administration. Florida leads the country in health insurance enrollments through the ACA with more than 1.9 million sign-ups in 2020. Trump wants to repeal the ACA and Democrats are hoping this is dissuading Latino voters from voting for the president.
“President Obama comes to South Florida today with a clear message: Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are the right ticket for our community and will fight for the issues most important to Hispanics,” Kevin Muñoz, Florida spokesperson for the Biden campaign, said. “President Obama is here to live our campaign mantra of earning every single vote.”
Fonsi also accompanied Biden at the Democratic nominee’s first appearance in Florida where he kicked off Hispanic Heritage Month.
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