HIALEAH— To win the 2026 gubernatorial sweepstakes in Florida, Rep. Byron Donalds needs to win Miami-Dade County like Governor Ron DeSantis and Secretary of State Marco Rubio did in 2022, by winning over the coveted Cuban-American exile community and Hispanic voters sympathetic to the plight of the local diaspora.
Cuba Libre! Cuba Libre! chanted Rep. Donalds during his "Latinos for Byron" campaign rally in Hialeah, Florida. To his credit, the non-Spanish-speaking Donalds blurted out some key Spanish phrases to rev up the crowd of 300 or so mostly-Cuban-American residents.
"If President Trump has his way, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio has his way, we're going to see a free Cuba. Cuba libre! Cuba Libre!" said Donalds. "And a Free Cuba, free from tyranny, will always have a friend here in Florida."
"We want every vote. We are going to work hard to earn every vote this August," said Rep. Donalds in an interview with The Floridian. " It's about making sure everybody in Florida succeeds."
Several state lawmakers were in attendance, including State Senator Bryan Avila and State Reps. Juan Porras, Alex Rizo, David Borrero, y (a little Spanglish here because it is Hialeah after all) Tom Fabrizio.
"So I think, I think it's very important. Uh, I think that certainly Byron is, he's going to every single community, every single part of the state. Miami-Dade County by itself is larger than 15 states. So it's an incredibly large area and demographic and an important constituency. And I think it shows Byron's commitment that he's here," said State Senator Avila.
The praise for Donalds kept coming. The aforementioned Cuban-American members of the state legislature (minus Borrero, who is of Colombian descent) pointed out how important it was for Donalds to win the most populous county in the state.
"I think it's very important. Um, we have a big Governor race this year and we gotta make sure we—we saw last year, I got elected in December. Um, people are—are burdened by the—the cost of everything. So it's important we have someone who's fighting to lower property taxes, who will continue that fight that we currently have in the state, to eliminate property taxes for our senior citizens. So that's a big reason why Miami-Dade County has to get out there and vote for Byron Donalds," said Hialeah Councilman William Marrero.
"We're Miami-Dade County. We are, um, you know, the largest county with the largest Hispanic population. Um, if you win Miami-Dade, I would say you have a—probably a real, you know, certain chance of winning the—the rest of the state of Florida, uh, just because of the sheer numbers," said State Rep. Borrero. "We turn out in large numbers when it comes to—to voting, especially here in—in Hialeah. The active participation from, you know, the Cuban community is—um, way above what—um, you see from a lot of other communities."
State Rep. Porras, who was the first lawmaker to endorse both President Trump in 2024 and Donalds in 2026, zeroed in on how important the City of Hialeah was to the state Republican party, saying that the city was the "most Republican city in the entire state of Florida."
"I think it's so important that Byron focuses in not just on the Latin community, on the Cuban-American community, but Hialeah being the most Republican city in the entire state of Florida. The highest num—density of Republican voters is here in Hialeah, in Miami-Dade County. So we're all here today supporting him and making sure that that focus, that support that comes from those Republican voters transcends now in the—the primary election," Rep. Porras said.
Florida's primary election will be held on August 18. Donalds is currently running in a Republican primary race against Lt. Gov. Jay Collins and Speaker Paul Renner.
The general election is on Nov. 3.
