Larry Griffin
A new push by SEIU Florida aims to get African-American and Hispanic voters out to the polls through a $510,000 investment on radio and digital ads.
The campaign is a coordinated effort through PICO National Network, Faith in Florida, FLIC Votes, Organize Now, and New Florida Majority.
Ads geared towards African-American voters revolve around the Souls to the Polls campaign on Oct. 30 and Nov. 6, and towards voter protection. One ad promises that “tens of thousands” of voters will march to the polls for the Souls to the Polls campaign, saying a vote is not an individual thing, but a “church thing.” Another ad touts the values of raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour and ending racial injustice.
Other ads will attempt to engage young Hispanic voters who have been turned off and disengaged by the rhetoric of the campaign, appealing to them on the issues that directly affect them — health care, affordable education, raising the minimum wage, immigration reform, and more.
“For too long election campaigns focused on parties and candidates, we are changing this by bringing the focus back to the real issues that impact our communities,” said Alphonso Mayfield, SEIU’s state director for the 2016 election campaign. “The issues of racial and economic injustices can no longer be ignored. Our campaign intends to educate the voter that their votes are directly related to how the policies and practices are crafted at local and federal level. We are doing this through our face-to-face contacts with voters and also through the media buys.”
The ads will start airing today in counties all over the state, including Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, Hillsborough, Pinellas, Orange, Osceola, Escambia, Leon, and Duval counties. Digital ads will reach voters through online platforms like Pandora.
“While politicians are screaming at each other, young Floridians are making some of the toughest decisions in their lives, from how to pay for college, to how to get a job that doesn’t pay them poverty wages, says Maria Rodriguez, executive director for FLIC Votes and lead for Latino voter outreach. “They are also turned off by politicians who don’t accept their heritage and constantly attack their immigrant families. This campaign seeks to remind them that voting is, in a way, taking action to create change.”
