According to a recent poll by Florida International University (FIU), Cuban American voters’ support for Trump is at an all-time high.
The poll showed that 68% of likely Cuban American voters in Miami-Dade County said they would be voting for the former president on the ballot next week. The same poll found only 23% saying that they will vote for Harris.
“Sixty-eight percent is the highest recorded approval rate for Trump among Cuban Americans on our poll,’ said FIU.
Each election cycle, the Cuban community’s support for Trump has increased. In 2016, 35% of registered voters approved of Trump. In 2020, that number increased to 59%. The 2024 approval rate is also greater than the Cuban American vote for Trump in the last two presidential elections.
While Republicans continue to maintain a majority among registered Cuban American voters (55%), Cuban Americans born outside of Cuba are divided in their party allegiance: 38% are registered Republicans, 33% are Democrats, and 26% are Independents (No Party Affiliation).
In the Florida senate election, U.S. Senator Rick Scott is expected to receive 50% of the Cuban American vote, while challenger Debbie Mucarsel-Powell will garner approximately 19% of the decided voters. A relatively sizeable undecided segment (22%) makes the race for the U.S. Senate seat closer than expected, given Scott’s previous overwhelming support from the community.
There is much more diversity of opinion on other issues, including U.S. policy toward Cuba. Democratic and Republican supporters differ in their evaluation of the most important issues facing the country.
For Republican supporters, the top issues, ranked, are: (1) the economy, (2) immigration, (3) access to health care, (4) relations with China, (5) relations with Russia, (6) relations with Cuba, (7) race relations, (8) assault weapons accessibility and (9) access to safe abortion care.
For Democrats, the top issues are (1) access to health care, (2) access to safe abortion care, (3) the economy, (4) assault weapons accessibility, (5) race relations, (6) immigration, (7) relations with Russia, (8) relations with Cuba and (9) relations with China.
On the issue of the U.S. embargo against Cuba, 55% of Cuban Americans in South Florida support its continuation, although they also show relatively high support for some engagement policies such as the selling of food (61% support) and medicine (69% support) to the island. Support for the continuation of the embargo drops to 43% among Cuban Americans not born on the island.
The 2024 Cuba Poll surveyed 1,001 Cuban Americans in Miami-Dade County by phone between Sept. 25 and Oct. 9. Questions about the election were posed only to the likely voters (U.S. Citizens) among the responders.
