Candidates take on Puerto Rican statehood at Latino confab

The issue of Puerto Rican statehood has emerged as a contentious issue in the final days of the Florida campaign. (Flickr: Vik Cuban)

By MATTHEW JAFFE
Channel: Politics

MIAMI –- Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney on Friday were pressed over their positions on Puerto Rican statehood Friday at a gathering of Latino Republicans in Miami as they spar for Latino support in the final days of the campaign.

A cadre of Puerto Ricans attending the Hispanic Leadership Network (HLN) conference were peeved that the issue of statehood was given short shrift during Thursday night’s CNN debate, which was co-sponsored by HLN. Elizabeth Cuevas-Neunder, appearing from here in Miami, asked the candidates last night about Puerto Rico’s statehood, but the question went unanswered by all but one GOP candidate before moderator Wolf Blitzer moved on to other topics.

Today Cuevas-Neunder, the CEO of the Puerto Rican Chamber of Commerce in Florida, was front and center at the conference whenGingrich noted that the question was “one that unfortunately was not covered very well last night and I regret that Wolf Blitzer did not turn and ask the rest of us.”

“I have had a firm position on the right of the Puerto Rican people to have a referendum,” Gingrich said to applause. “I am not dictating the outcome of the referendum because there are several options and the Puerto Rican people have to make that decision.

“But I think they have every right and I support their right to have a referendum to decide on statehood or not and that is something which I would actively support as their right to have a referendum and then, as every other state has, to negotiate the process of accession if that’s what the people of Puerto Rico want to do,” he added.

Enter Cuevas-Neunder.

“Mr. Speaker, I am the lady of the question,” she said, standing up in the front of the audience. “Our Puerto Ricans have given more men and women to the United States Armed Forces than any other state in the union. We have four million Puerto Ricans in the United States who are voters. We have 52 percent of our children who are in poverty. The question is very simple – you want our vote, yes or no?”

“The question is do you believe that we are able to be a state or not? Simple.”

“I just said what I believe and if you don’t like it I am sorry we disagree,” replied Gingrich. “I believe the people of Puerto Rico should make the decision.”

“What I’m telling you is if the people of Puerto Rico make the decision that they want to be a state,” Gingrich continued to applause from the crowd, “I will work actively to help them negotiate the process of accession to the United States, but the people of Puerto Rico have to decide their future. I would welcome them if they make the decision, but I will not tell them what decision they should make.”

An hour later, Romney addressed the issue in his remarks at the conference, receiving a warmer response from the crowd, including from Cuevas-Neunder, who stood and applauded the former Massachusetts governor.

“I’m looking forward to the time when the people of Puerto Rico make their decision about becoming a state,” he said as the audience cheered. “Wow, we’ve got some friends here.”

“I think it’s in November you’re having a referendum and I expect the people of Puerto Rico will decide that they want to become a state and I can tell you that I will work with [Puerto Rico Gov. Luis Fortuno] to make sure that if that vote comes out in favor of statehood that we will go through the process in Washington to provide statehood to Puerto Rico.”

That’s farther than he went with Univision’s Jorge Ramos on Wednesday, when he said “my choice is to let them make their choice.”

Statehood is a controversial issue among Puerto Ricans and not all support the idea. Others believe it should become independent or remain a commonwealth. But a large amount of Puerto Rican voters in the U.S. back statehood, including many who live in Florida. Puerto Rican voters are the second-largest Latino voting bloc in the Sunshine State, with approximately 420,000 living here, heavily concentrated around the I-4 corridor in central Florida.

And Puerto Ricans tend to be a swing constituency, they backed Obama in 2008 and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) in 2010, meaning that they could play a critical role in the state’s Jan. 31 primary and general election.

“I think the Puerto Rico question was intended to all the candidates, the Puerto Rican community here is Florida is very big, they are crucial in the I-4 corridor in Tampa, Orlando and Daytona Beach, and I think it was wrong of CNN not to allow the other candidates to talk about Puerto Rico,” Latino conservative activist Alfonso Aguilar, who hosts a program on Univision Radio, said after the debate Thursday.

In the most recent Latino Decisions poll conducted for ABC News and Univision News, Puerto Rican Republicans in Florida favor Romney over Gingrich by 22 percent to 12 percent. Gingrich fares even worse among registered Cuban-Americans here – the state’s largest Latino group – trailing Romney 49 percent to 17 percent.

“We have a lot of support within the Latino community,” Gingrich said at a press conference before his speech at the event. “I’m encouraged by all that’s happening.”

Gingrich was asked why he supports only the military component of the DREAM Act, not the scholastic one – the bill would enable some children of undocumented immigrants to have a path to citizenship if they serve in the military or attend college.

“I think the American people are very prepared to allow someone to earn citizenship by serving this country,” Gingrich said. “I think it’s harder to get Americans to agree that the simple act of going to school achieves the same thing.