More than 2M Puerto Ricans Could Play a Key Role in the US Midterm Elections

The U.S. midterm elections are coming up Nov. 3, and Junior doesn’t know whether he’ll vote. The man, who preferred not to give his last name, was sitting on the porch of his brick-and-wood home on a street in Clark-Fulton, a working-class neighborhood in Cleveland, Ohio, chatting in English and Spanish with a group of friends.

A red pickup truck was parked near his house, with a license plate from Isabela, Puerto Rico, displayed in its windshield. On the same street, a disco ball hung from the roof over another home’s entrance, and a handmade sign on the wall beside the door advertised limbers, a frozen treat made with fruit juice, cream or milk, typically served in a cup and popular in Puerto Rico.

Clark-Fulton is part of Ohio’s 11th Congressional District, one of 59 districts where Puerto Ricans are the largest Latino group across five states expected to see close races in the midterm elections: Florida, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York and Ohio. That’s according to an analysis by the Centro de Periodismo Investigativo (CPI) using data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2024 American Community Survey.

Of those 59 congressional districts — geographic areas whose voters elect representatives to the U.S. House — 32 are represented by Republicans and 27 by Democrats.

Together, the congressional districts in those five states expected to see close midterm races are home to 2,386,911 Puerto Ricans, including those too young to vote. But Puerto Ricans’ potential political influence in the United States could be weakened if the low voter turnout seen in previous elections continues, several experts interviewed by the CPI agreed.

Ohio is home to 145,627 Puerto Ricans, making them the state’s second-largest Latino group after Mexicans. Junior arrived in Ohio in the 1980s. He previously lived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he had moved from Puerto Rico when he was 8 years old.

«I don’t remember if I voted in the last election,» Junior said, referring to the 2022 midterms. He is retired and previously worked for the Sanitation Department in Philadelphia. He moved to Cleveland in search of a somewhat quieter, more affordable life.

It was noon on Wednesday, Sept. 3, and the tranquility of Junior’s neighborhood was interrupted by a thunderous roar: A group of aircraft from the U.S. Navy’s Blue Angels squadron was flying low over Cleveland, performing aerial maneuvers. «They’re practicing for tomorrow’s show,» Junior said.

Rather than talk about politics and the midterm elections, Junior preferred to change the subject and show off several cherry tomato plants growing along the sidewalk outside his home. «I don’t like politics,» he said as he handed tomatoes to some neighbors.

Differences Between Puerto Rican and U.S. Voting Cultures

In general, voter turnout in U.S. midterm elections is lower than in presidential elections. The same trend holds among Latinos, according to a Pew Research Center study. For Puerto Ricans, there are «significant structural differences» that contribute to low voter turnout, Carlos Vargas Ramos, a political scientist and director of public policy at Hunter College’s Center for Puerto Rican Studies in New York, told the CPI.

«In Puerto Rico, elections are held every four years. In the United States, there’s a presidential election one year, and two years later, there are congressional elections. The following year, there may be state elections for governor or the state legislature. And in another year, municipal elections,» Vargas said, explaining the differences between the electoral systems.

«Turnout has always been very low. There are some [majority-Latino districts in Cleveland] where turnout is below 2%,» said Elia Burgos, an attorney who worked from 2018 to 2023 as bilingual community outreach coordinator for the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections, which oversees elections in Cleveland.

The U.S. Department of Justice and the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections compile a list of Latino voters. Burgos explained that the list is based on surnames in voter registration records that «sound Latino.» For that reason, the count of Latinos registered to vote in Cleveland «is not entirely accurate,» she added. Burgos moved from Puerto Rico to Cleveland after Hurricane Maria and began working at the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections for the 2018 midterms.

The Latino voter list is part of an agreement reached by the U.S. Department of Justice and the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections to «protect the rights of Spanish-speaking Puerto Rican voters» under Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act.

The agreement was the culmination of a campaign led by the nonprofit Hispanic Roundtable, founded and chaired by José C. Feliciano, who was born in Yauco, Puerto Rico, and raised on Cleveland’s West Side.

The Cuyahoga County Board of Elections agreed to use bilingual ballots and hire employees who spoke English and Spanish. The U.S. Department of Justice ratified the September 2010 agreement.

The Latino voter list that the Justice Department sends to the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections is used, in part, to determine which precincts need bilingual poll workers, either by assigning existing staff or hiring new workers, Burgos said.

«Part of my job was translating, creating the website in Spanish, doing social media in Spanish, and working with different community organizations to organize events where I could set up a table and share information with people one-on-one,» Burgos added.

In the United States, more than 4 million Puerto Ricans are potentially eligible to vote because they are U.S. citizens and at least 18 years old. Puerto Ricans account for 1.7% of the voting-eligible population, although that share varies by state, ranging from 1% in Ohio to nearly 8% in Connecticut, Vargas Ramos found in a study published in 2020.

«Consequently, Puerto Ricans constitute a significant segment of the electorate in highly competitive states such as Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania,» the study adds.

Could Puerto Ricans determine the outcome of elections in some districts with large Puerto Rican populations? the CPI asked.

«If they voted, absolutely,» Vargas replied.

The Puerto Rican Vote in Close Elections

Ohio will be one of the most competitive states in this year’s midterm elections, held halfway through a president’s four-year term. Voters will elect members of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives and, in some places, governors, attorneys general, mayors and other officials.

«Midterm elections are extremely important for the president … The fewer members of the president’s party who enter Congress, the harder it will be for the president to find support for their agenda. However, the results of midterm elections do not predict who will win the presidential election,» explains the U.S. Vote Foundation, a nonpartisan nonprofit organization dedicated to voter education.

In this Midwestern state, governed by Republican Mike DeWine, President Donald Trump won the last three presidential elections. Republicans have also controlled the state legislature for nearly as long, and both U.S. senators representing Ohio belong to the same party.

But things could change in November. Ohio is expected to have a close gubernatorial race, according to several political news outlets and a poll by Suffolk University and USA Today. At the same time, the Senate and House races will help determine which party controls Congress during the remaining two years of the Trump administration.

Democrat Shontel Brown has represented Ohio’s 11th Congressional District since November 2021. Junior is one of the 37,634 Puerto Ricans living in the district, according to the Census Bureau.

«Many of the concerns I hear from Puerto Rican families are the same ones I hear from families across Cleveland: the rising cost of living, health care and food assistance,» Brown told the CPI.

The congresswoman said medical debt is a common problem among Puerto Ricans, which is why she supports the Medicare for All proposal, introduced by Democratic Rep. Pramila Jayapal in 2025. The legislation has not advanced since being referred to several committees for review. Brown also emphasized that she has voted against cuts to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act proposed by Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson.

Brown’s opponent in the midterm elections is Republican Mike Kirchner, a retired pension adviser who has less than a 1% chance of winning, according to the political data platform Pollsmax.

Ohio’s close races will take place in other congressional districts and in the Senate contest between incumbent Republican Sen. Jon Husted and his Democratic challenger, Sherrod Brown. In the gubernatorial race, Republican Vivek Ramaswamy, a former presidential candidate, faces Democrat Amy Acton.

«There are more than 100,000 Puerto Ricans in Ohio, and very close races are expected for the House of Representatives, Senate and governor, so every vote counts,» Brown added in an email.

Redistricting Dilutes the Puerto Rican Vote in Florida

Florida’s 9th Congressional District, which includes Kissimmee, has the largest Puerto Rican population of any congressional district: 208,512 residents. Democrat Darren Soto, who is of Puerto Rican descent, represents the district.

Soto has held the seat since 2017, but several analyses suggest he could lose it to his Republican opponent, Dan Green, in the upcoming midterm elections. The political publication Roll Call ranked Soto third on its top 10 list of the most vulnerable House members in the midterms. The latest New York Times poll, published Oct. 7, projects a tie in Florida’s 9th District, with both candidates having a 41% chance of winning.

In April 2026, the Florida Legislature and Gov. Ron DeSantis approved a new congressional map that changed the boundaries of the 9th District. The district will now have more non-Hispanic white voters than Latino voters, a shift that will favor Republican candidates. Orlando’s Fox News affiliate described the district’s new boundaries as «a potential opportunity for Republicans to flip it.» The redistricting adds more voters to the 9th District who favored Donald Trump over Kamala Harris in the last presidential election.

Soto has supported several pieces of legislation related to Puerto Rico, including measures providing federal funding for recovery from natural disasters and others addressing health care and infrastructure. In March 2026, Soto and Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi of Illinois introduced a bill to eliminate the Financial Oversight and Management Board, which has overseen the Puerto Rico government’s finances since 2016.

On Aug. 12, Soto led the signing of a letter addressed to Lee Zeldin, administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), urging the federal government to intervene in Puerto Rico’s «drinking water emergency» caused by infrastructure failures and drought.

Florida has at least 14 congressional districts where Puerto Ricans are the largest Latino group, including the 9th District that Soto represents. The 10th Congressional District, represented by Democrat Maxwell Frost, is home to 93,411 Puerto Ricans and includes areas of Central Florida and parts of Orange and Polk counties. Frost faces no opponent in the midterm elections after his potential challengers failed to meet the requirements to enter the race.

The deadline to register to vote in Florida was Oct. 5. In-person early voting begins Oct. 19 and runs through Oct. 31 or Nov. 1, depending on the county, Ricardo Negrón Almodóvar, Florida campaign director for All Voting Is Local, a nonpartisan nonprofit that promotes voter education among the Latino community, told the CPI.

«Nov. 3 [midterm Election Day] is not a holiday. What we want is for people to become familiar with the process of voting in person without waiting until Election Day,» Negrón Almodóvar said, discussing the voter registration process.

Regarding changes to electoral maps, Negrón Almodóvar said part of his organization’s work involves checking whether people’s polling places have changed.

«People whose congressional district has changed may find that their polling place has changed as well. Some may have been going to the same place for years, and suddenly they’re no longer assigned there. Sometimes the change can mean traveling several miles, and you have to consider that public transportation in Florida isn’t necessarily the best,» added Negrón Almodóvar, who moved from Yauco to Orlando in 2015.

Negrón said the main concerns he hears from Puerto Ricans ahead of the upcoming elections, as with the rest of the population, are the cost of living — especially grocery prices — and housing costs.

More Than Half a Million Puerto Ricans Form the Largest Latino Group in 17 New York Districts

In New York state, Puerto Ricans are the largest Latino group in 17 congressional districts stretching from Buffalo in the west to Puerto Rican communities along the East Coast.

In New York City, Puerto Rican Rep. Nydia Velázquez, who began her congressional career in 1993, will not seek another term representing the 7th Congressional District. Running for the seat instead is Claire Valdez, a member of the New York State Assembly and the Democratic Socialists of America, who received the endorsement of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.

The district Velázquez is leaving, which Valdez, who is of Mexican descent, hopes to represent, includes parts of Queens and Brooklyn and has a Puerto Rican population of 70,368. Valdez’s opponent is Melvin Rivera, a Republican whom the political publication Pollsmax gives less than a 1% chance of defeating Valdez.

Ritchie Torres, the Democratic representative of New York City’s 15th Congressional District, which has the city’s largest Puerto Rican concentration, is also projected to win against Republican Stylo A. Sapaskis. Torres’ district includes parts of the West and South Bronx and has the highest poverty rate of any congressional district in the United States, with 36.2% of its residents living below the poverty line. The district is home to 116,396 Puerto Ricans. Torres has represented it since 2021.

Meanwhile, New York’s 14th Congressional District, represented by Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, has a Puerto Rican population of 93,433 and covers parts of the Bronx and Queens, including the neighborhoods of Astoria, Corona and Jackson Heights.

Other New York districts with large Puerto Rican populations include the 16th, represented by George Latimer, and the 13th, represented by Adriano Espaillat, a Democrat of Dominican descent whose seat is being sought by Darializa Ávila Chevalier, also of Dominican descent and a member of the Democratic Socialists of America.

Political scientist Carlos Vargas observed that politicians in the United States generally pay attention to Latino and Puerto Rican communities only when elections are close. Despite low voter turnout, as Puerto Ricans have established themselves as communities in different U.S. cities, many have chosen to become involved in nonpartisan political organizations, community associations and street protests.

Evelyn Rivera is an Ohio-born Puerto Rican activist who has led efforts to mobilize Puerto Rican and Latino voters in Cleveland. Speaking from the living room of her home in Cleveland’s Old Brooklyn neighborhood, she emphasized that «it’s been a headache trying to encourage our people [to vote]. What we’re doing is trying to use history.»

In the 1990s, Rivera served on the board of directors of the Hispanic Senior Center, where she created community programs focused on older adults. Since 2023, she and Gladys Santiago have led the Latin American Historical Society of Cleveland Ohio (LAHSO), an organization dedicated to preserving and documenting Latino history in Cleveland.

«The parties here haven’t done much either, so we’ve had to fight with all the institutions in Ohio,» she said of efforts to mobilize Puerto Rican voters, which have included organizing car caravans, a common feature of election campaigns in Puerto Rico used to encourage people to vote.This translation was generated with the assistance of AI and reviewed by our editorial team to ensure accuracy and clarity.