The Power of Puerto Rican Voters

According to the Washington Post, just 72 of all the voting districts in the country will make the real decision about the next U.S. Congress. A fairly equal number of districts can be confidently expected to vote Republican or confidently expected to vote Democratic. That leaves just 72 swing districts to make the numbers go in one direction or the other. A software company called Quorum did some analysis of Census data in these powerful districts and found out some interesting things.

These districts have 48% fewer African-Americans than the national average. They have more education. They have higher than average percentages of white and Asian-American voters. There are fewer unemployed people and fewer living in poverty than in the average U.S. neighborhood. One more thing:

The representatives of these districts are different, too. They’re less likely to skip voting on bills. They’re also more likely to vote against the majority of their party. So a Republican from a swing district is more likely to side with Democrats (and vice versa)– and less likely to waste his or her vote by failing to vote. Swing district reps miss 39% fewer votes than average. That alone makes them more influential than average.

The candidates in these elections need to pay attention to their Puerto Rican constituents. So those constituents need to speak up and make sure that the candidates get the word. Puerto Rico is important to voters in their districts. They support equality for the people living in Puerto Rico.

That means statehood. Support candidates who recognize the importance of this issue, and those who endorse statehood for Puerto Rico. You will find them in both the Republican and Democratic parties.

Don’t know which candidates are friends to Puerto Rico? Ask them. Use Twitter to reach the candidates in your local race. Tell us when you find out, and we’ll tell you when we get the news. The more we know, the more influence we can have.