TAMPA, Fla. — The second Republican debate was Wednesday, and candidates worked to make a name for themselves with potential voters. Hispanic people make up a substantial pool of potential supporters that could tip the scales one way or another in the primaries, and in the general election next year.

What You Need To Know

  • The second Republican debate prompts reactions from local residents

  • Polk County Young Republicans weighed in on the debate performances

  • Polk County Democratic Executive Committee argues that nothing to help Latinos was mentioned in the debate

Voters say they have one thing in common: they want someone who will work for everyone.

Wednesday’s Republican Presidential debate sparked a lot of talking points for Johnny De Jesus, the president of Polk County Young Republicans.

He says the economy is his biggest concern.

“As Republicans and as conservatives, we are looking to keep the deficit low, actually create a balanced budget so that we can be able to eliminate this inflation,” De Jesus said.

He liked that all candidates in the debate touched on points like education and immigration. He said these are key points that align with their organization and getting Latinos on board.

“We’ll be able to get them to be part of the process on how to get them involved and educated on to what to do as far as the economy and how we can actually try to prosper,” he said.

As for Democrats like Cesar Ramirez, issues like education and affordable housing are important to him in choosing the next president.

But he believes much of what was said doesn’t benefit Hispanic voters.

“How is it really going to improve our lives? Everybody keeps turning to the border and I agree it’s a huge issue and I agree it needs to be protected, but we keep talking about building a wall. How about building bridges?” Ramirez said.

He thinks for a presidential candidate to be appealing to Latino voters, they should focus on improving the workforce and increasing worker wages.

“Let’s really talk about the economy, what’s impacting the increase in prices of certain things and what are impacting those,” he said.

Both say they’ll be keeping a close eye on the upcoming debates and topics discussed and the issues that matter to them.

The next Republican Presidential debate is scheduled for Nov. 8 in Miami. Both organizations say they’ll host events breaking down those debates and dive deeper into the issues talked about.