The Pa. GOP has rallied against statehood for Puerto Rico. Except when courting Latino voters.

Former governor of Puerto Rico Luis Fortuñoat the podium, alongside David McCormick, Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania, Berks County Commissioner Michael Rivera, and Pennsylvania Republican Party Vice Chairwoman Bernie Comfort (left to right) at the “Latino Americans for Trump” office opening in Reading June 12, 2024 (Capital-Star photo by John Cole)

In Pennsylvania this year, Republicans have spoken out against statehood for Puerto Rico. Pennsylvania Republican National committeeman Andy Reilly said at an April rally in Delaware County that electing David McCormick to the U.S. Senate would help prevent statehood for both Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C.

But during a Wednesday appearance in Reading, the city with the largest Latino population in the commonwealth, the issue was notably absent from the stump speeches and responses to reporters.

“How many states are in the United States,” U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) said on Tuesday to a crowd of McCormick supporters in Bucks County. “We’ve got 50 states.” 

“Under the Democrats, if they get the sweep, they are going to make Puerto Rico a state and Washington D.C. a state,” she added. “And you know what? They’re not going to have red Senators, either. We will never control the Senate again.” 

Speaking to reporters following his speech on Wednesday at the opening of the Latino Americans for Trump office in Reading, McCormick was asked about Ernst’s comments opposing statehood for Puerto Rico and if it will resonate with voters in Pennsylvania.

“On the campaign trail, I’m not talking about Puerto Rican statehood as the primary issue at the moment because the things that are taking our country in the wrong direction are affecting all Pennsylvanians, including the Latino community and those are the issues that they are raising most with me,” he said. 

The point Ernst was making, he said “was that if the Democrats have control of the House, the Senate, and the White House, then some very radical things could happen, the ending of the filibuster, adding additional Supreme Court justices, that’s the scenario that she was guarding against.”

A reporter asked McCormick to elaborate on his position about Puerto Rican statehood.

“It’s not something that I’m willing to say is something that I’m advancing as a policy priority now,” McCormick responded. “But it is something— I was just talking to a number of people about it— it’s something I want to learn more about as we have a huge Puerto Rican community in Pennsylvania. As you know, it’s a big part of our Latino community and it’s something I want to learn more about.”

McCormick has not used the issue of Puerto Rican statehood during stump speeches on the campaign trail, but did reference it during an interview on TalkRadio 1210 WPHT Philadelphia in April. 

“Imagine a world, which is possible, where Joe Biden’s in the White House, where we lose the House, just imagine that possibility and you have a Democratic Senate,” McCormick said during that interview. “I mean, so long to the filibuster, and hello statehood for Puerto Rico and Washington DC. You can imagine the kinds of justices we would get on the Supreme Court. I mean, it will be irrecoverable.”

The issue of statehood for Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico has not been a part of U.S. Sen. Bob Casey’s stump speeches this year. However, Casey has previously expressed support for D.C. statehood. 

Other speakers at the Trump campaign office opening in Reading expressed different views on the issue.

Berks County Commissioner Michael Rivera was born in Pottstown, but grew up in Puerto Rico. 

“That’s a good question,” Rivera said, after being asked by reporters if he supports statehood. “I think it would be good, everything has its pros and its cons, we would have to see.” 

Rivera added that he would leave the issue up to the people of Puerto Rico to make the choice of whether they want to be a commonwealth, state, or independent. 

He said he did not think the GOP opposing statehood for Puerto Rico would hurt the party politically.

“If you’re not living in Puerto Rico, or if you have family there, it may impact, but I don’t think it will have a huge impact on the election,” he said.

Luis Fortuño, the former governor of Puerto Rico, was also in attendance at the Reading event. He’s supported statehood for Puerto Rico for over a decade. 

Like other states across the nation, Pennsylvania’s Latino population is growing. It currently makes up roughly 7.5% of the state’s voting population.

According to the 2020 Census, Philadelphia has the second-largest stateside Puerto Rican population among U.S. cities, only trailing New York City. Allentown is the city with the eighth highest population of Puerto Ricans in the nation and it is the largest segment of the Lehigh Valley’s Hispanic population. 

Just under 500,000 Puerto Ricans lived in Pennsylvania as of 2019, according to the Center for Puerto Rican Studies, making it the state with the 3rd largest concentration in the nation.

While Hispanic/Latino voters have primarily backed Democrats in previous cycles, the gap appears to be narrowing. In 2020, 69% of Hispanic/Latino voters voted for Joe Biden in Pennsylvania, while 27% voted for Trump, according to NBC News exit polling. That was lower than the 2016 results, when Democrat Hillary Clinton received 74% of the Latino vote and Trump received 22%. 

An NBC News poll in April showed 49% of Latino voters supporting Biden, while Trump had 39%.

“Latinos do play and will continue to play an increasingly important role in the determining of the outcome of elections and this office will help lead us to victory in November,” Rivera said on Wednesday.

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