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This fact brief was originally published as an experiment to test the concepts behind fact briefs.

Readers should be aware that while there is still a lot of useful information in fact briefs like this one, not all of them reflect Gigafact's current methods and standards for fact briefs. If you come across any that you feel are out of date, don't hesitate to contact us at support@gigafact.org.

FACT BRIEF

Do Cuban-Americans wield significant amount of influence in US politics?

Wednesday, August 19, 2020

By Miriam Himelstein

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YES

Cuban-Americans influence U.S. politics because the two-thirds of them who live in Florida often play a deciding role in that state's politics.

Since at least the 2000 election Florida has been seen as the most significant swing state in presidential elections. It awards 29 electoral votes--the third-largest number behind California and Texas. Unlike those two larger states, its choice has usually been determined by a very narrow margin. In 2016 Donald Trump won Florida by 100,000 votes.

Cuban-Americans make up around 1.5 million of Florida's 21 million citizens, enough to swing the state's close elections, which in turn have the potential to swing presidential elections overall, making Cuban-Americans an important demographic in national politics and a group courted assiduously by state and national candidates.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

270 to Win: Florida

South Florida Sun Sentinel: Poll shows generational, political divides among Cuban-Americans

Pew Research Center: Facts on Hispanics of Cuban origin in the US, 2017

New York Times: Florida Election Results, 2016

US Census: Florida

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Gigafact

Between 2020 and 2022, under close editorial supervision, Gigafact contracted a group of freelance writers and editors to test the concepts for fact briefs and provide inputs to our software development process. We call this effort Gigafact Foundry. Over the course of these two years, Gigafact Foundry writers published over 1500 fact briefs in response to claims they found online. Their important work forms the basis of Gigafact formats and editorial guidelines, and is available to the public on Gigafact.org. Readers should be aware that while there is still a lot of relevant information to be found, not all fact briefs produced by Gigafact Foundry reflect Gigafact's current methods and standards for fact briefs. If you come across any that you feel are out of date and need to be looked at with fresh eyes, don't hesitate to contact us at support@gigafact.org.

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Fact briefs are short, credibly sourced summaries that offer “yes/no” answers in response to claims found online. They rely on publicly available, often primary source data and documents. Fact briefs are created by contributors to Gigafact —a nonprofit project looking to expand participation in fact-checking and protect the democratic process. See all fact briefs here.