With the presidential race in Florida looking both tight and potentially decisive, supporters of Democrat Joe Biden have launched a multi-channel Spanish-language ad campaign to shore up support among the Sunshine State’s Hispanic voters.
According to The Hill, the ad spend will draw from the $100 million pledged by former New York City mayor (and billionaire) Michael Bloomberg to help the Democrats win Florida in November.
“Joe Biden’s path to victory runs through Florida,” Guy Cecil, Chairman of Priorities USA, said in a news release. “With Mike Bloomberg’s continued support, Priorities is able to do the important work of reaching Florida’s Hispanic community — a key constituency in Joe Biden’s winning coalition.”
According to The Hill, the super PAC Priorities USA Action “will spend $4 million on TV advertising and $2 million on radio spots in the battleground state in association with the Latino Victory Fund. The ads are scheduled to air in the Miami, Tampa and Orlando markets and run Friday [September 25] through Election Day.”
Priorities USA spokesperson Josh Schwerin told The Miami Herald that the ads will include a focus on “the toll that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on Latino communities and how the administration of President Donald Trump has disproportionately affected Hispanics.”
The spend comes after recent polls showing relatively weak support for Biden among Florida’s Latino voters and criticism of the Biden campaign’s “sluggish outreach” to Latinos.
Florida’s Spanish-speaking population is among the most diverse in the U.S. and includes a large, traditionally Republican-friendly population of Cuban heritage.
“As Biden makes a concerted push to reach these voters in the final stretch, the [Sept. 23. Washington Post-ABC News poll] shows Florida’s Latino vote splits 52% for the Democratic nominee and 39% for President Trump among registered voters, an advantage that does not reach statistical significance because of a small sample size,” writes The Post. “He’s underperforming compared to Hillary Clinton in 2016: The last Democratic nominee carried Florida’s Latino vote by 62% to 35%, according to network exit polls.”
On its website, Priorities USA said it has “already spent nearly $20 million in Florida” and “has been running a Hispanic-focused digital ads program in the state since November 2019. This spending includes an ongoing partnership with Latino Victory Fund on Spanish-language radio in Orlando and Tampa.”
“Florida is home to one of the largest Hispanic communities in the nation and it is our duty to talk to our Spanish-speaking neighbors about [Trump’s policies],” Latino Victory Fund chair Luis A. Miranda Jr. said in Priorities USA’s written announcement.
Previously, FloridaPolitics.com reported that the radio campaign will include an ad called “Arroz / Rice” that “will target Puerto Ricans — honing in on Trump’s poor response to the devastation caused by Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico and criticizing the President’s advertisements in the U.S. territory. The radio ad will also hit on Florida’s coronavirus death toll, which just reached 12,600 residents and 156 non-residents on Friday.”
Another radio spot, “Corazón de la Economía / Heart of the Economy” emphasized Biden’s support for workers and small businesses, FloridaPolitics reports.