Once considered a Democratic stronghold, Florida’s heavily Latino Miami-Dade County — 69% of its residents identify as Hispanic or Latino — has become a fascinating battleground county ahead of the 2024 election.
In 2016, Hillary Clinton won Miami-Dade County by 29 points, and in 2020, Joe Biden carried the county by 7 points. But in the 2022 midterms, Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis won the county by the largest margin of any GOP governor in decades, all three Miami-Dade congressional seats stayed red, and Republican U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio defeated Val Demings, his Democratic challenger, by 16 points after having lost his home county in 2016.
MSNBC and NBC News anchor José Díaz-Balart had a wide-ranging conversation with a diverse group of four prospective voters at the historic Ball & Chain Restaurant in the heart of Miami’s Little Havana, delving into the issues that matter the most to them and how these topics are influencing their vote in November.
A former Democrat who now supports Donald Trump, a former Republican who is now a Democrat, a lifelong Democrat, and a student who’s not affiliated with any party expressed different opinions on the issues, though they all counted the economy and immigration as top priorities for them. They also gave us their opinion about President Joe Biden and former President Trump and whether they’re enthusiastic about the 2024 election.
José Díaz-Balart
José Díaz-Balart is the anchor of MSNBC’s “José Díaz-Balart Reports” on weekdays.
Andrés González
Andres Gonzalez is a senior producer with MSNBC’s José Díaz-Balart Reports.