At the Palmetto Bay voting site on Election Day, a predicted defection of Florida Latinos from President Donald Trump's corner was evident among young voters.
Latino voters will play a key role in the close District 27 race between three-term Republican Congresswoman María Elvira Salazar and Democratic challenger Eliott Rodriguez — both of them Cuban-Americans and former TV news journalists.
Recent polling from sources such as FIU show Florida Latinos have defected significantly from President Trump since 2024 — two-thirds say the country is going in the wrong direction — and that was especially evident among younger voters at the Miami-Dade precinct.
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One, a Cuban-American paralegal named Miranda — who asked that her last name not be used — did not want to reveal her voting preferences but said this election cycle "is the first time I've ever seen Latino voters this anxious and divided here," in particular over the affordability issue.
"We're not all voting the same this year as usually would," she told WLRN. "I do think there's a [Latino voter] tide coming" against Trump, "but I really don't know what to expect. All I know is I'm trying to be a first-time home buyer, and it's just so hard for people in the Latino community to make that happen right now."
Valentina, a recent Colombian-American college graduate in Palmetto Bay — who also asked that her last name not be used — said she's noticing younger Latinos breaking with their parents and families away from Trump and the Republicans in this election.
"I think they're realizing a lot about this administration, and they feel let down and betrayed in a way," she said. "So they're doing their own research this time and not just going off what other people in their families might think — having a voice for themselves and making sure they're being heard."
But Cuban-American Oscar Sosa said he feels the polling of Latinos has been wrong and the community, like him, will stick with the Republicans in South Florida.
"All this race stuff about Black voters, Hispanic voters, is just people with special agendas dividing the country instead of thinking what's best for America," he said. "Latinos are with the Republican Party 100%."
Another Cuban-American, 82-year-old Teresita Alvarez, who came to the U.S. in 1966, agreed.
Speaking Spanish, she said Cuban and Latino voters in this election "are all confused and divided over who they should vote for. I have always voted Republican and I'm certainly going to vote with my Republican president. It's much simpler."
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