Hannah Sammut

An article for a Politics and the Media class that looked at the voting patterns of Cuban-American men in Port St. Lucie, FL.

By Hannah Sammut

Cuban Americans overwhelmingly support Donald Trump in 2016 election, but Port St. Lucie men show 50-50 split

As the election draws nearer, four residents in Vitalia’s age 55+ community in Port St. Lucie, FL, are getting ready to vote— and are adamant about reminding others to do so.

“You must as a citizen to exercise that duty, because we couldn’t,” says one of the men who prefer to go unnamed, still scarred by the memory of seeing his father being taken away by secret police for speaking against the government. The men in this community are all former refugees who escaped Castro’s brutal rise to power in the early 1960’s. Years later, they have settled into retired life in Port St. Lucie, an up-and-coming town for new retirees north of Palm Beach.

Historically, first-generation Cuban Americans have tended to side overwhelmingly with conservative politics, especially those who spent time in the Miami-Dade area. A 2018 Pew Research Survey found that 57% of Cuban American voters identified or leaned toward the Republican Party. Gunsmith Amado Delgado, who immigrated to the United States at the age of 15, attributes this trend to a few factors: a cultural importance for traditional Catholic values (49% of American Cubans identify as Catholic), stricter border control, and an immense distrust for anything slightly “socialist.”

All four of the Port St. Lucie men interviewed have been lifelong registered members of the Republican party and have never missed an election. However, it’s Trump’s 2016 and subsequent 2020 campaign that have split the demographic evenly. Those who have dissented from voting for Trump in 2016 voted for Clinton instead, and plan to vote for Biden come November.

While not the ideal candidate, Biden is the “lesser of two evils” according to Celso Fernandez, a former AT&T employee who moved from Cuba at age 13. For him, Medicare is too essential to be jeopardized by Trump. A recipient of double-bypass heart surgery five years ago, if it wasn’t for his ample Medicare coverage, the procedure would have left him scrambling.

“I asked out of curiosity how much my surgery would have been without coverage. The bill would have been over $550,000 dollars. It would have ruined me. My total cost with Medicare? $500 dollars.”

Why did he deviate from majority of Cuban Floridians? The same group that voted 54% for Trump in 2016? Fernandez believes that it was because he didn’t spend his formative high school years in a densely populated Cuban areas, such as Miami. Another unnamed source who deviated from voting for Trump believes that it was growing up with other cultures and getting his master’s degree in Latin American Studies that give him an expanded worldview. “It wasn’t just what was most important for Cuban Americans when it came to politics anymore,” he said.

 There were some issues that remained equally important for all of the Port St. Lucie men, regardless of which candidate they planned to vote for. All were strong supporters of the U.S. military and were involved in Vietnam war efforts, whether it was through contract work or through military service. All felt that they had a civic duty to join Vietnam efforts, since they felt that the United States helped them in their time of need.

A sentiment for stronger border control was shared as well. Many felt that because their families came here legally and worked themselves from the ground up, others should as well. Open border policies were unfavored by all, and some continued to support Trumps border wall efforts.

And lastly, it’s the fear that history may repeat itself.

“We’re the prime example that socialism doesn’t work. I’ve seen huge supporters of these ideas in the 60’s and I see them being revitalized again. Take it from me. We lost everything.” Ernie Amador, a retired corrections officer who came to the U.S. at age six, said.

But ask the Cubans of Port St. Lucie, who all still speak their native Spanish every chance they get, if they miss home. No, they say, despite the rough beginnings, home has always been here.