Five moments GOP presidential hopefuls spoke to Florida residents on important issues here

Although GOP presidential hopefuls were speaking to the nation Wednesday, the five candidates also talked to South Florida residents about issues that matter to them in their hometown.

That’s what made the debate unique for these presidential candidates, since each one made a pitch to a pivotal voting bloc of the Florida GOP, and in particular Hispanic Republicans.

But it wasn't just making an appeal with shoutouts. The candidates also sparred over issues of importance to the state.

In one exchange, Gov. Ron DeSantis defended his decision not frack for oil or natural gas in the Florida Everglades. On abortion, which is of paramount concern in the Sunshine State, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley called on her peers to be "honest" about what they were promising.

Here is recap of the five moments of interest to Florida that got debate time:

GOP debate coverage: GOP debate in Miami: The attacks, the claims, Donald Trump's rally, and who won the debate

DeSantis: Miami-Dade County is an example of how Republicans can stop losing

The first question of the debate went to Florida’s governor, asking him to tell voters why he should be the Republican primary candidate against President Joe Biden instead of former President Donald Trump.

His response: Look what he did in Miami-Dade County in his re-election landslide in 2022, where he carried the blue county. And he contrasted that with another losing night for Republicans nationally the previous night.

Voters in conservative Ohio passed a constitutional amendment protecting access to abortion and voters in red Kentucky re-elected a Democratic governor who ran on supporting abortion rights.

“I’m sick of Republicans losing,” DeSantis said. “In Florida I showed how it's done. One year ago here, we won a historic victory, including a massive landslide right here in Miami-Dade County.”

What do sanctions on Venezuela have to do with the Florida Everglades? Read on.

Miami is home to the nation’s largest concentration of Venezuelans, and moderators asked DeSantis and Haley whether they see the political conflicts of Venezuela as a threat to the United States and how they would address it.

Both candidates said they would reimpose sanctions on Caracas implemented by the Trump administration and relaxed by Biden and agreed not to purchase oil from Venezuela. But Haley accused DeSantis of opposing drilling and fracking, calling him a “liberal when it comes to the environment.”

In response, DeSantis said he supported fracking but that he didn’t support drilling in the Florida Everglades.

“I know most Floridians agree with me,” DeSantis said.

Social Security remains an untouchable pledge

Florida ranks second in the number of Social Security beneficiaries, with about 4.9 million recipients in the state and about 437,000 of those in Miami-Dade County. When asked whether he would raise the retirement age and how he would keep Social Security sustainable, DeSantis said he was no stranger to this topic and that the key solution was to reduce inflation.

Yet DeSantis said he wouldn’t raise the retirement age since he said that life expectancy is declining. Currently, life expectancy is at its lowest level at 76.1 years since 1996, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“I don’t see how you could raise it the other direction,” DeSantis said.

None of the candidates directly answered what age they would limit retirement to, but all focused mostly on life expectancy and on reducing inflation to sustain costs to pay Social Security beneficiaries. Trump mercilessly attacked DeSantis' stances on entitlement program reforms when he served in the U.S. House.

Housing and inflation

Florida is one of the top states experiencing a crisis of unaffordable housing, especially since Miami has ranked as one of the most expensive cities in the country.

Rising costs affect Florida residents in every realm, whether it is related to housing, groceries, gas prices or energy costs. In response. U.S. Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina and the others on stage said the solution is for the country to become energy independent to reduce these costs, which he said would create more jobs.

Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy said he will also “embrace nuclear” to lower energy costs and to increase the supply of homes to make housing more affordable.

Ex-New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said that the answer to reducing inflation is through energy production and that eliminating the federal gas and diesel tax would relieve costs. That's an issue that resonates in Florida where motorists are often vexed by the broad disparities in pump prices from county to county, largely owing to differences in fuel taxes.

Abortion

This is one of those read-the-room things.

Reproductive rights in Florida remain a flashpoint with just about no one happy. Anti-abortion advocates are unhappy that the 2022 15-week ban is stalled before state Supreme Court, this year's six-week ban is blocked pending the high court ruling and, for some, there is dissatisfaction the state has not banned pregnancy terminations completely.

Abortion rights activists are livid and are progressing with plans to place a constitutional amendment protecting the right to an abortion before voters next year.

Perhaps Haley walked that minefield most deftly by acknowledging reality. A federal ban would not have the votes in the U.S. Senate, and the whole point of voiding the Roe v. Wade decision was to give that right to the states to decide, she said.

Haley's position, she said, is "let's be honest" with the country on the issue of abortion.

Stephany Matat is a politics reporter for The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY-Florida network. Reach her at smatat@pbpost.com. Support local journalism: Subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Miami GOP debate: 5 times issues of importance to Florida came up