DeSantis is so popular with FL Hispanics, he may win Miami-Dade

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MIAMI — Florida Democrats are fretting over Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis’ popularity among Latinos, saying they are boosting his chances of becoming the first Republican governor in 20 years to win traditionally blue Miami-Dade County and therefore propelling his chances of a successful presidential run in 2024.

Miami-Dade, the state's most populous county, is 70% Hispanic. The last time a Republican governor won Miami-Dade County was Jeb Bush in 2002. Unlike DeSantis, Bush held press conferences in fluent Spanish and his wife is Mexican-born.

DeSantis is an “outlier” among Republican governors, said Fernand Amandi, a Democratic consultant and pollster in Miami.

“DeSantis overperforms here in a way that you don’t tend to see Republican candidates perform elsewhere with Hispanics,” he said.

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Some of DeSantis’ policies have drawn controversy and generated national headlines, including his support of the Parental Rights in Education law — dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” law by critics — and his move to send two planes full with mostly Venezuelan asylum-seekers to Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts and other locations.

Samantha Ramirez, communications director for Crist, said DeSantis is a "fake ally to our community, someone who smiles in your face but turns around and threatens to bus Cubans to Delaware and spends his time flying asylum-seekers across the country to score political points. He acts like the very dictators our communities fled from, that’s why Floridians are ready to get behind Charlie Crist."

But those stances, say supporters, have contributed to DeSantis’ popularity.

“The key takeaway that I hear from Hispanics over and over again, is some variation of ‘he has cojones,’” said Republican strategist Giancarlo Sopo.

Helen Aguirre Ferré, the executive director of the Republican Party of Florida, said Hispanics appreciate a leader who “is unafraid to make decisions, even though it may go against the grain of the establishment.”

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