Reproduced with permission from The Haitian Times.

The Haitian Times, vol. 4, no. 34

Since the early 1980s a few Haitian leaders have urged immigrants to participate in the electoral politics. But not until the mid-1990s did Haitians in South Florida become significantly active as voters. By then more had become citizens and were thus eligible to vote. They had also achieved a demographic presence in a few municipalities in Miami-Dade County. Haitians first won city council seats in El Portal, a very small Miami-Dade municipality, then in the larger town of North Miami and finally the mayor's office, also in North Miami. In 2000 Phillip Brutus, a Haitian American, was elected to the Florida state legislature from the North Miami area.