Florida’s shifting demographics could keep the state in play for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, as an influx of white retirees could offset any Democratic gains in the state’s growing minority population.
As Arian Campo-Flores and Paul Overberg report in The Wall Street Journal: “Fast-growing minority communities give Democrats an increasing advantage in Florida, one of the most heated battlegrounds in the presidential election.”
However, an underreported demographic trend could keep the state competitive for Trump: a new influx of white retired seniors.
Although Democrat Hillary Clinton could lose Florida and still find other paths to the White House, most see the Sunshine State as a must-win for Trump. Both candidates have made Florida a regular campaign stop.
New arrivals could be one explanation why the race between Clinton and Trump remains tight in Florida polls. The Journal notes a Mason-Dixon survey released Friday, showing Trump only two points behind Clinton with likely voters, which was helped — in no small part — by a 20-point-plus lead among white seniors.
