New polling from Florida International University points to unprecedented success by the GOP presidential nominee with one ethnic group.
The Cuba Poll asked 1,001 Cuban Americans in South Florida about a variety of issues between Sept. 25 and Oct. 9, including preference atop the ticket in November. The survey finds Donald Trump is riding high with the traditionally right-of-center cohort, leading Kamala Harris 68% to 23%.
That’s up from 35% support for Trump in 2016 and 59% for Trump four years ago.
“It seems that the Trump train is still picking up passengers on Calle Ocho,” said Guillermo Grenier, lead investigator on the Cuba Poll and a professor of sociology in the Department of Global and Sociocultural Studies at the Steven J. Green School of International & Public Affairs, which sponsors the poll along with FIU’s Cuban Research Institute.
“Cuban Americans born outside of Cuba being the exception, the Cuban American community remains loyal to the Republican Party and the Trump version of it.”
Trump is up 53% to 28% with independents, and takes 11% of Democrats, compared to 4% of Republicans who back Harris.
Harris is competitive with second-generation or more Cuban immigrants, trailing Trump just 46% to 44% with that group.
The polling memo delineates key differences between Harris and Trump supporters, with younger voters, female voters and college educated voters more likely to buck the Cuban consensus.
Another marker is whether the married folks have a Cuban husband or wife. The poll found 80% of Trumpers have an all-Cuban marriage, while only 60% of Harris supporters can say the same.
The survey also has good news for Rick Scott, on track to get 50% of the vote against Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, who has 19% support in her bid to make the Naples Republican a one-term Senator.
Other statewide polling of Cuban-Americans showed Scott even more backing, earning 61% support among the demographic.
–A.G. Gancarski, Florida Politics
