Puerto Rico Governor endorses Leo Valentín in CD 7

Republican Leo Valentín‘s campaign for Florida’s 7th Congressional District received a late boost Monday with the endorsement of Puerto Rico Gov. Wanda Vazquez Garced.

Valentín’s campaign announced the endorsement Monday with just Election Day voting and late-arriving mail ballots left to decide the CD 7 contest in which Valentin is challenging two-term Democratic Rep. Stephanie Murphy.

Valentín, who is Puerto Rican and ran a hospital there before, during, and after Hurricane Maria, has been hoping for a boost from Puerto Rican voters who’ve grown as a bloc in eastern Orange County and southern Seminole County. He’s already run advertising stressing the point, with the message, “he’s one of us.”

Murphy, too, has appealed to those voters, with Spanish-language ads that comment on her efforts in Congress to support Puerto Rico and Puerto Ricans who’ve moved to Florida.

“I call on Puerto Ricans and Hispanics in Central Florida to vote for Dr. Leo Valentín as their representative to Congress for Florida’s 7th Congressional District,” Vazaquez Garced stated in a news release issued by Valentin’s campaign Monday. “Leo is born and raised in Puerto Rico. While others say they know our community, Leo has lived our reality. He knows how difficult it is to fight to forge a better future for our families on and off the island.

“I know that Leo understands the health needs of our Latino communities, especially in the face of this pandemic. Leo will be a tireless fighter for all the citizens of the district and an ally of Puerto Rico in Congress,” she continued. “As Governor of Puerto Rico, as a woman and a Puerto Rican, I urge you to elect Leo Valentín this Tuesday.”

CD 7 covers Seminole County and parts of northern, eastern, and central Orange County.

“I’m honored and grateful to have the support of Governor Wanda Vazquez Garced. As someone who grew up in Puerto Rico, I understand the needs of our Puerto Rican and Hispanic communities here in Central Florida, and in Congress I will fight for our Hispanic communities and all of Central Florida every single day,” Valentín stated in the release.