MIAMI - Leaders from Central Florida's Puerto Rican, Venezuelan, and Colombian communities urged Latino voters Monday to turn out for Florida's August primary and November general election, casting the 2026 cycle as a test of Hispanic political power in one of the country's most closely divided states.
At a news conference in Orlando, the groups Boricua Vota, Casa de Venezuela, and Casa Colombiana were joined by U.S. Rep. Maxwell Frost, an Orlando Democrat. Frost told the crowd that "representation matters" and pressed families to weigh the past year and a half under President Donald Trump when they head to the polls.
The organizers pushed eligible voters to register before Florida's July 20 deadline, double-check their registration and vote in both rounds. Jimmy Torres Vélez, president of Boricua Vota, framed participation itself as the point, telling voters to study the field and do their homework, whether or not they back the names his group is watching. Latino turnout tends to sag in primaries, he noted, even though many local races are effectively decided there.
The stakes are especially concrete in Orange County, home to Orlando, where about 30% of voters are Latino and roughly two dozen Latino candidates are running in the primary alone. The community can march in the parades, Torres Vélez said, but the real action shows up in the budgets, arguing that a 30% share of the electorate should mean a 30% share of public spending, rather than money flowing to ZIP codes where Latinos don't live.
Central Florida remains a Puerto Rican stronghold, with about 500,000 living in the region and more than 1.2 million across the state. But the joint appeal reflects a broader Latino electorate.
William Díaz of Casa de Venezuela pointed to the roughly 48,000 voting-eligible Venezuelans in the area and urged them to weigh which candidates support restoring Temporary Protected Status, which the Trump administration has allowed to lapse. Even Latinos who can't vote, he added, usually have a relative who can. Pablo Medina of Casa Colombiana said many voters simply don't understand the process, and that his group is learning outreach from Boricua Vota.
Florida's primary is Aug. 18 and covers federal, state and local seats; in some nonpartisan races, a candidate who clears 50% wins outright next month. The general election follows on Nov. 3.
