Do You Live in Florida?

If you live in Florida, PR51st wants you to help with our Grassroots Activation Initiative. This is a way to make sure that we reach the most critical legislators in the United States. We’re starting with Florida.

Why Florida?

Florida can help make Puerto Rico a state!

Florida has the largest Puerto Rican population of any of the 50 states. There are over 1.2 million Puerto Ricans living in Florida.

Polls among these voters show that they favor statehood for Puerto Rico. 57% in a recent poll said they want statehood, 26% want the current territorial status, and 6%.want independence.

Right now there is a statehood bill in the Senate. The two senators from Florida, Marco Rubio and Rick Scott, are both on record supporting statehood for Puerto Rico.

Many in the Senate are confused about Puerto Rico. They don’t understand the viable status alternatives available to Puerto Rico. They think territory status is “the best of both worlds” and that it is popular in Puerto Rico. They worry that Puerto Rico would definitely be a blue state. They don’t understand the human rights issues.

But Scott and Rubio know about statehood. They understand the problems Puerto Rico faces as a territory. They should be providing  leadership on this issue in the Senate.

What should Floridians do?

Reach out to your representatives.

Congress makes the decision to admit new states. Puerto Rico has no senators at all. Once Puerto Rico is a state, there will be two Senators from Puerto Rico. Until then, Puerto Rico has to rely on Senators from states.

Your Senators care about their constituents: the people who vote for them. If you live in Florida, Senators Scott and Rubio will listen to you.

Here’s the list of the most critical legislators and how to reach them:

• Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL)
  • Phone: 202-224-3041
  • Twitter: @SenRubioPress
  • Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SenatorMarcoRubio/ 

• Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL)
  • Phone: 202-224-5274
  • Twitter: @SenRickScott
  • Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RickScottSenOffice/ 

You can also email your senators with the tool on the Florida Senators page.

You can also reach out to your members of Congress with our Contact Your Legislators tool.

Finally, ask your friends and neighbors to do the same. An estimated 350,000 Puerto Ricans are registered to vote in Florida. Imagine if just 10% of those voters let their representatives know they wanted statehood for Puerto Rico!