Democrat Florida Agricultural Commissioner Nikki Fried, who is running to challenge Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis in 2022, allegedly presented a more moderate agenda on the Spanish page of her campaign website than on the English page, Newsweek reported Monday.
Two hours after journalists requested for comment, Fried’s team reportedly changed the Spanish and English sections of the website to more closely mirror each other, according to the publication.
“Our website copy, now updated, was in the process of being properly and professionally translated,” Max Flugrath, communications director for Fried’s campaign told Newsweek.
Newsweek was able to archive the website before it was changed. According to the publication, the original Spanish page on Fried’s campaign site was 95 words long, and the only policy mentioned was Fried’s support for legalizing marijuana. In contrast, the English page notes Fried’s more leftist agenda, including criminal justice reform, gun control, and the environment.
Florida has the third largest population of Latino voters behind California and Texas, according to a Pew Research Center study. Overall, the Latino population made up a record 17% of the state’s voters in 2020.
The Hispanic vote in Florida has been shifting more toward the GOP in recent years. While former President Donald Trump did not win the Latino vote in the 2020 election, Cubans were overwhelming split 56-41 for the Republican incumbent compared to an even 49-49 split between non-Cuban voters, AS/COA reported.
In a recent exclusive sit-down interview with Breitbart’s Matthew Boyle, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio said he thinks the shift in the Hispanic vote toward the GOP will be permanent unless Republican’s revert to pre-Trump ways:
These are communities made up of people who value common sense wisdom and working class values…That’s what their life is built on. Those are two things the left has abandoned. You hear lots of people talk about whether it’s socialism. Socialism is a part of it. Socialism is a part of the common sense part of it. In their mind, if I were to step in the shoes of someone who maybe voted for Obama in 2012, then voted for Donald Trump in 2020, they would say to you, ‘Look, I came from a socialist country. I fled it. Why the hell would we do that here?’ It makes no sense to them. So you see Democrats stand up and say, ‘I’m not a socialist,’ and no you’re not. You don’t brand yourself as a socialist, but you support socialist things, and you support socialist leaders and socialist politics. It just makes no sense to them.
Democrat strategist Evelyn Pérez-Verdía has joined the campaign, which Fried announced less than two weeks ago, as a senior advisor on Latino issues. Pérez-Verdía told Newsweek the campaign most likely forgot to add more information to the Spanish page.
“I don’t think she’s trying to be different in Spanish,” Pérez-Verdía told the publication.
Democrat Congressman Charlie Crist, who is also running for Florida governor, is estimated to have 41% support compared to 31% support for Fried, according to Florida Politics, which cited data from Political Matrix/Listener Group.
Ten candidates have filed to run for Florida governor in 2022 so far, records from the Florida Department of State show. Out of those candidates, seven are Democrats, one is a Republican, and two are not affiliated with a party.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.